Little Birds, Act 1: The Magician
by HorizonTheTransient
Summary: Ventus Chromae/Sekirei crossover. The world's a stage, life's a play, and we're all actors in improv theater. Updated on Saturdays.
1. The Fortune Teller

I am David Alexander Anderson of the Black Wind. I have mastered energies not seen on this earth for 75 years. I am powerful enough that a dragon, an actual flying and firebreathing _dragon_, looks to me for protection and calls me its Guardian.

And yet, my family refuses to let me stay home. 'How could you stay home,' they ask, 'when we're going to an anime convention in Tokyo?'

"Very easily.", I'd replied at the time. "Allow me to demonstrate."

I was unable to demonstrate this point. My fate was sealed: I would be forced to cosplay as albino characters I was completely unaware of, and then be forced to stand still while people take pictures with the fucking flash on, despite me constantly telling them to not do so.

* * *

><p>Well, you see, there's this funny thing about airplanes: I hate them. So goddamn much. I'm locked in an airtight tube with about a hundred other people who do not bathe often enough or use too much cologne or perfume, and the seats are designed for people a head shorter than me, giving me abysmal legroom.<p>

Adding to my growing discomfort was the fact that I was stuffed between two very talkative idiots who didn't seem to understand that no, the tall albino boy with a blindfold and a tooth-baring scowl does not want to talk to you at all. He wants to try and sleep through this flight, and you are interrupting that. Shut the fuck up.

Wait, scratch that, you aren't talking anymore. Nor is the plane still intact. What the shit is going on. Why am I in the water now, what is happening?

* * *

><p>After some thorough searching through the water, I confirmed the worst: Dad was dead. Mom was dead. Gemini was dead. Blackstone was alive, thankfully, but I was still down two parents and a sibling. At least I didn't lose a son.<p>

Yes, I thought of Blackstone as my son. I raised him from birth after hatching his egg. He's my son and I'm his dad. Go fuck yourself.

Blackstone and I swam to the docks of Tokyo, very thankful that our clothes were waterproofed and that the plane exploded only 20 minutes of swimming out into the bay. I was also thankful that, for the first time in my life, Dad had actually told me the important details, like where we're supposed to be staying, and things like that. He'd found a boarding house near enough a subway station so we could get to and from the convention. Apparently, rent was $500 a month and included meals and access to the baths.

The baths, in fact, were supposedly a major selling point. Dad was quite intrigued. Me? Less so. But, we'd paid in advance for a month, for three rooms(each one was rated for two people, you see), so that should be a decent enough place for me to stay for a season while I put my life back together.

I had the feeling it wouldn't be quite so simple. It never is. There's always something going wrong whenever I leave the house. There is no way in hell I'm getting out of this unscathed, but oh well. I can deal with it.

* * *

><p>"What the hell are you doing?" I asked, watching Blackstone's transformation through the Eagle Eyes and a blindfold.<p>

"Fuck this human shit. I'm done." Blackstone said, as he became a small black lizard the size of a puppy. "I'm staying like this forever." He climbed up my leg, and up into the hood of my jacket, where he rested.

"I guess this is just what dragons do when upset." I said with a sigh.

"Gee, no shit." Blackstone huffed. "Any other obvious statements you want to make? Maybe about how you hate the sunlight, and you wish you had a hat?"

I sighed, and shook my head as I began walking. I knew the address of the boarding house, and my navigational sense supplied me with directions. It would be trivial to get there.

* * *

><p>I found myself eating my words as I made my way across the massive city that is Tokyo. The bay of Tokyo was at the southern end. And the boarding house was in the northern quarter. On the plus side, my 'notice-me-not' aura seemed to be working, because nobody even gave me a first glance unless I was coincidentally in their line of sight. Either that, or Japanese people are even more pathologically polite than I thought.<p>

And I only got a sunburn on my face and hands! Two of the most sensitive areas on my body! Fuck this hurts! Problem is, I can't use my power to heal myself, since I don't have any right now. My contracts were with the Texas Fae, and those assholes are nowhere near here. I'll have to track down the Tokyo Fae, and make contracts with those, and that is a messy business that never ends well in the immediate term.

But, at long last, I arrived at the boarding house at 3:15 local time. Not sure if Tokyo's time was synced to a different clock, but by the sun it was 3 and a quarter hours past high noon.

I knocked tiredly on the door, and waited patiently as someone wearing some sort of robe or skirt that brushed the floor walked to the door. From the sounds of it, they were wearing some sort of garment with flowing sleeves, and had long hair. Given that this is Japan, it was very likely that they were a woman.

The door opened, revealing the landlady(?). She was radiating enough magical power that I could detect it even without the Eagle Eyes. Perhaps establishing a magical contract would be to my benefit.

"I have arrived." I said flatly. "Unfortunately, four others have not."

"Ara?" the landlady said, making a confused noise. "My apologies, but I do not recognize you…"

"I am David Alexander Anderson, son of Harry and Lisa Anderson. We rented a trio of rooms here, because there was a convention somewhere here." I explained. "Unless my dad gave me the wrong address."

"Oh!" the landlady said, realizing what was going on. "I see. I was not expecting you to arrive so early, nor was I expecting someone so… tall."

"You should've seen my brother, then." I remarked. "He stood more than two meters tall."

"My, you westerners are all so tall." the landlady commented, taking a step back to invite David inside.

"It comes from living in a fertile area with lots of food to eat." I said, quoting a book I'd once read.

* * *

><p>"So, if you do not mind my asking, where is the rest of your family?" the landlady(Who'd introduced herself as Miya) asked.<p>

"They are…" I briefly entertained saying they were indisposed, but decided that lying would be a bad idea. "Dead. Plane crash, and their numbers came up in the lottery nobody wants to win."

"Oh dear. I can't imagine what you must be feeling right now." Miya said, shaking her head. "I lost my husband years ago, but that was only one person."

"We all grieve differently." I said wistfully. "I just keep reminding myself that their death is not an excuse for me to curl up and die too. I just have to keep moving."

I wasn't lying. I don't really grieve, since I was desensitized to death at an early age. I didn't really feel the loss right now, but I'm sure I'd feel it eventually. In the meantime, I have to worry about Blackstone.

"Well, if you need someone to talk to, don't be afraid to talk to me." Miya told me.

"I'll keep that in mind. In the meantime, I'm rather tired and would very much like to get some sleep. Could you show me where I'll be staying for the next three months or so?" I asked.

"Three months? Oh, right. I suppose you'll only need one room…" Miya said.

"I might need three. Depends on whether or not it's true what I've heard about japanese real estate." I joked. "If the rooms are those tiny pod hotel things, I'll require three."

"Allow me to adjust your expectations." Miya said, standing up and motioning for me to follow.

* * *

><p>The room was plenty big enough. I had enough space for a desk, a few mechanical Constructs, and a bed, plus some space left over for whatever else I set up in here.<p>

"Now, as for the lizard in your hood." Miya said, turning to look at Blackstone. "I'm afraid I don't allow pets here, due to past experience."

"Ah, I take it someone's cat was particularly destructive?" I asked, reaching back to pick Blackstone out of my hood. "You won't have to worry as much about this little thing. He'll be kept in a glass terrarium, for the most part."

I take care of my own. Blackstone is staying, or I'm not. Miya can take her fucking pick.

"Hm…" Miya considered this. "Keep him contained, and I shall allow it."

"Thank you, I'll be sure to keep an eye on him." I assured her. "He's usually more friendly than this, and would usually be attempting to get to you so he can say hi."

Blackstone showed his disdain for my blatant fabrication with a little huff.

"He must be tired from the plane ride." Miya said sagely. "And the subsequent crash."

"The little ones usually are." I agreed. "Even the adults are tired after the plane crash."

Miya seemed to take the hint, and I was allowed to sleep.

* * *

><p>I awoke to the smell of food cooking, and the sun was, at this point, beneath the horizon. I got up, put my jacket back on, and walked downstairs to the dining room.<p>

"Evening, everyone." I said, yawning as I walked in. "What'd I miss?"

"Oh, hey, new tenant!" someone said. Feminine voice, a bit of an accent, and definitely young.

"Is he blind?" another voice asked, this one close to androgynous.

"Not really, but actually using my eyes hurts." I explained. "Especially since people seem to keep their lights on all the time."

"Ah, so you could see if you took off the blindfold-" the androgyne said.

"-but I don't want to, because I can get by without my vision." I concluded. "Also, it gives me a good excuse for being illiterate."

I can read the roman alphabet, the cyrillic alphabet, even the korean alphabet. But japanese? Hell no. They have 3 systems of writing, all of which suck.

"But enough about the eyes. I'm David. Let's hear some names for me to associate with the voices, shall we?" I said, not missing a beat.

"I'm Uzume." the young woman said.

"I'm Kagari." the androgyne said.

Now, lemme tell you something. Japanese has a bunch of 1st person pronouns, indicating gender and age. They were hard to learn. But they did tell me that Kagari was a dude.

"I'm David." I told them. "David Alexander Anderson, the Blind Seer." I'd left behind the title of White Rose sometime after the autumn festival when I was 13. "True to form, I'm a gypsy fortune teller."

It was pretty simple, really. Just tell them things are about to get interesting, and by virtue of being around me, the prophecy comes true. But, if I had some juice, I could actually power the cards, and get a more accurate prophecy. With enough juice, I could probably take an accurate peek at the future without the shaded lenses that the cards function as.

"Oh really?" Uzume said. "How? A crystal ball? Palm reading?"

In response, I drew forth a deck of tarot cards. These were no ordinary deck, and were enchanted to hold the meanings within them, so they would shuffle and align according to fate in a meaningful fashion. As a result, they also healed from any attempt to distinguish the cards aside from their faces, and would swap places automagically in the process of shuffling. Completely, truly random, and therefore in the hands of fate.

"How do you read the cards if you're blind?" Kagari asked.

"I don't." I answered. "You do, and you tell me what you see."

"Won't those be labeled in english?" Uzume asked. "I don't think any of us can read english."

"Oh. Shit." I said, realizing the fatal error behind this plan. A ladle was thrown at me from the kitchen, which I caught with deceptive ease. "Please don't throw things at the blind guy. It's rude."

"No cursing allowed within my inn." Miya said.

"Your blood will be purple on Tuesdays." I said, creating a hollow curse upon Miya. It was currently Wednesday, and I'd have time to get enough juice to power the curse by then, hopefully. "Not really a curse, but it'll certainly weird you out."

"Don't think she meant that kind of curse, bro." Uzume said, holding back a bit of laughter.

"How are you supposed to test that?" Kagari asked.

"I know how to draw blood safely." I said, cupping my chin. "So, uh… well, there's that option."

"You will do no such thing." Miya said. "My blood is to remain entirely within my body at all times."

"In that case, we have to make her blush on a Tuesday. Somehow." I resolved. "Any plans?"

"Miya? Blushing? I'd sooner bet on the American government getting its head out of its ass." Kagari said. I deflected the ladle Miya had thrown at him with the ladle I'd caught, and gave him a thumbs up. "How do you keep doing that?"

"Dunno." I said. "I just do."

In reality, I have an ability which allows me to track the ballistic trajectories of everything around me. Some autohypnosis gave me the ability to use it for aiming purposes in a much faster manner.

But a good magician keeps 'em guessing, and never reveals his secret.

"I bet his blindfold is actually that see-through fabric." Uzume speculated. "So he can see what's going on, he just acts like he doesn't."

"That's patently ridiculous." I said. "But if you could hook me up with a see-through blindfold, I'd pay a fortune."

"That stuff isn't that valuable." Kagari pointed out.

"Not the monetary kind of fortune." I said. "The other kind. Since I'm a fortune teller and all."

"Boo." Uzume said. "No puns allowed."

"Puns are a perfectly legitimate form of humor!" I defended. "Although they can be _pun_ishing," Uzume groaned. "to _pun_ks like you," Kagari joined in on the groaning. "I'm going to keep _pun_tificating until you completely _pun_derstand my _pun_t." Uzume slugged me in the shoulder, and I laughed it off. "Thank you, thank you, I'll be here for three months."

"Never do that again." Kagari ordered.

"I'll only do that in exchange for your immortal soul." I said primly. "Or a number of souls of equivalent or greater value."

"Do souls have a quantifiable value?" Miya asked from the kitchen.

"Yes they do." I said. "I'm not gonna tell you what value that is or how to determine it, but you'll see in time."

"Does it have to do with morality?" Kagari asked.

"Nope." I said. "My soul is a blackened lump in my thinkpan. Yours, on the other hand…" I activated the Eagle Eyes, the glow hidden by the fabric. "Yours is like a brilliant flame. Uzume's is more like an overly-large torch, and Miya's is actually painful to look at."

Miya's soul was very, very potent. It was actually radiating more waste energy than your average Chromata produced in the same time. I'd definitely want to find a way to siphon that waste energy sometime soon, because, well, power. I need it to do things.

I turned off the Eagle Eyes. Looking at things I shouldn't have is what cost me my vision, after all, and I've learned from my hubris. Hopefully.

"And what does that mean?" Uzume asked.

"Nothing I'll tell you." I said with a smug grin. "Not yet, at least."

* * *

><p>Dinner itself was a rather quiet affair. The novelty of the crazy gypsy who believes in magic had worn off, and everyone began to eat. The food itself was pretty good. I didn't usually like japanese food, but that might have been Artemis not being a particularly good chef when it came to asian food.<p>

"So, bro, how was the food?" Uzume asked.

"It was pretty good." I said amiably. "I'll be able to stomach the local diet."

"Oh? Just 'pretty good'?" Uzume teased. "Miya's gonna have your guts for garters if you keep that up."

"Look, I'm a military brat." I defended. "I'd eat a dog, and in fact I've actually done so before. Food mostly flies under my radar."

"You've eaten dog before?" Kagari asked incredulously.

"Yep. Killed it myself, too." I said proudly. "There were a lot of feral dogs where I'm from, so the government was fine with people killing and eating them." I lied. I'd eaten dog on two occasions in my life. First, when I was in Cerst Manor, and I ran into a literally lantern-jawed wolf. Then during one of the Autumn Festivals, when someone attempted to kill me with a bunch of attack dogs. I'd made chili from the dogs, and forced their master to eat it until his stomach ruptured.

I may have a strong sense of right and wrong, but once you've attacked me like that, I do not hold back on grounds of 'overkill'. There is no such thing as overkill. It's just being thorough.

"What did it taste like?" Miya asked.

"Like rabbit, only with more satisfaction." I said. "A little stringy, though. I wouldn't recommend it without a nice sauce."

"And what sauce did you use?" Miya asked, intrigued and disgusted at the same time.

"Well, I made one using blood and bone marrow, and that was pretty good." I recalled. I hadn't thought about it in a while. "In fact, it would probably be better as a stew, using the bones to make a nice stock…"

"Can you not?" Kagari asked, sounding disgusted. "This is Japan, not Korea. We have class here."

"Eat a dick." I said in korean.

"What language was that?" Uzume asked.

"Korean." I said, switching back to japanese. "What I said wasn't entirely complimentary, so I'm not going to translate."

There was a minor pause as we began to clean up.

"Ah, David, there is no need for you to-" Miya began, before I cut her off.

"I'm blind, not crippled. I can still help clean up." I said. "Besides, this gives me something to do."

* * *

><p>After the cleanup, I retreated to my room, where Blackstone continued to sleep. I sighed, and tried to figure out what to do from here. I was a healer, yes, but I healed the body, not the mind. I couldn't cure depression like what Blackstone felt. I just had to wait and see, it seemed to me.<p>

I hated waiting. Made me feel weak, powerless.

But now that someone was knocking on my door, I had something else to do.

"Hey, bro, you awake?" Uzume asked. Apparently I was 'bro' now. Not really complaining, since I'm currently down a sibling and need a replacement.

"Yeah." I said, loud enough to be heard through the door. "I'm a night owl, since the sun is my mortal enemy."

"Somethin' wrong, bro?" Uzume asked. "You sound kinda down."

"It's complicated, and a long story." I said. "Not in the 'I don't want to talk about it' sense, but in the 'come in and make yourself comfortable' sense."

Uzume opened the door, and walked in. I don't know if she noticed Blackstone or not. But she did sit down across from me, and would have to be even blinder than I to miss him.

"Alright, well, first and foremost, I was very recently orphaned." I said. "Plane crash over the bay. Not sure if Miya told you or not."

"She did, yeah." Uzume said. "Kinda why I wanted to talk to you. Make sure you're fine."

"Well, thanks for your concern." I said. "But, I'm not done with the story, and I'd appreciate a lack of interruptions." Uzume's hair moved in a way consistent with nodding. "See, imagine that you have a single parent. They do a pretty good job of taking care of you, with help from your grandparents and uncle. But then, out of nowhere, what was supposed to be a fun trip ends with your grandparents and uncle dead, leaving you alone with your parent."

I sighed, and looked at Blackstone.

"Now imagine all that, plus you're not human, and can shapeshift into a small black lizard at any point you want." I finished. "That's the situation, I guess. This little lizard right here is actually my adopted son, Blackstone. He is, uh, rather distressed. And sleeping, I think."

"No I'm not." Blackstone said in his quiet little raspy voice. "I'm awake. I have been this whole time."

"Uh…" Uzume said. "Is he supposed to talk?"

"Yes." both father and son said simultaneously. "Some days he just won't shut up." I continued. "Which is why it's disconcerting when he's quiet."

"Not all of us are as desensitized to death as you are." Blackstone grumbled. "You accept loss easily, Mr. Blind Seer. Me? I am a small child who just lost their grandparents and uncle, and now lives in an unfamiliar place."

"You're pretty well spoken for a small child." Uzume pointed out.

"Dragons are weird." Blackstone said, reminding me of every single time he'd had to say that in explanation for his behavior. It was his catchphrase, almost.

"They are indeed." I agreed. "So… yeah, I don't actually care if you tell the others, since we don't really have much to hide."

"Except his eyes." Blackstone said.

"My eyes are hidden because they're really disturbing." I said. "The wizard thing I was pretty up front with."

"You said you were a fortune teller." Uzume deadpanned.

"And I can tell you your fortune." I said. "But I also do all sorts of other magic. Not right now, since I don't have any active contracts."

Uzume sighed, and sounded like she was shaking her head.

"Alright, so a contract," I began. "is where a magician makes a deal with someone else. The magician gets magical energy in exchange for doing something for the other person. I am one of the most versatile magicians alive, so I can take on a wide variety of contracts."

"So, like what can you do?" Uzume asked. "What sort of contracts would I be able to make with you, assuming I can?"

"You can." I said, nodding. "Your soul produces a lot of magical energy. I could make all your clothes fireproof and stain resistant, or build a cat from cardboard and tin cans. All sorts of things, really."

"So, a teleporter?" Uzume asked.

"No. But I can do a flying carpet." I answered. "Or, alternatively, a motorcycle that can fly."

"Hm…" Uzume said, scratching her chin. "I dunno what it is I really need at the moment…"

"How's this," I said. "I happen to have a bunch of passes to an anime convention in two weeks, and if you let me use a tenth of your power, I'll hand 'em over."

"Deal." Uzume said immediately. Instantly, I felt power surge through me. I reached into my pocket, and brought forth five tickets Dad had given to me to hold onto. Those were handed over to Uzume, and I smiled a bit.

"Pleasure doing business with you, Uzume." I said, standing up. "Now that I can do some magic, I've got work to do."

"Like what?" Blackstone asked, for my benefit rather than his own.

"The same thing I do every night, Blackstone." I said, quoting an old cartoon. "Try to take over the world!"

"Meh. I got what I wanted." Uzume said with a shrug, pocketing the passes.

* * *

><p><em>Author's Notes!<em>

_I'm back! Back again! Horizon's back! I have no friends!_

_Well, no, I do. I don't know why I said that. Anyways, I'm back, and right away you'll notice some differences. First, David is now 16, rather than 13 like he was in the first attempt. Since he arrives already at the age of 16, there's no timeskip, and we get right into things. This means the pacing isn't shot to hell like it was._

_Second, David's power/lack thereof is going to be explained through osmosis. Meaning that he'll explain little bits and pieces of it at a time, and a complete picture can be assembled gradually, rather than him just dumping it all at once. Third, Miya will show up a lot here. Since, y'know, David has to deal with her, due to living in her house. Fourth, I'm not putting dates at the beginning of each scene that's a different day. That was annoying to keep track of, and I think the pacing's better without it._

_And, most importantly? David not having a gender preference will be an important detail. It will actually influence events._

_There will be a romantic relationship between two dudes, is what I'm saying. Nothing explicitly sexual, but there certainly will be a bit of physical affection onscreen. Those who aren't a fan of such things, I shall make it obvious when more extended amounts of it will occur._

_Oh, and, last but not least, the protagonist is _not_ a self-insert. The author avatar here would actually be Uzume, since her personality and mannerisms are very similar to mine: a dislike of wearing clothes while at home, deriving enjoyment from watching other people's petty squabbles, being gay, et cetera. I will occasionally call her 'my child', in the Author's Notes or Omakes where I'm a character._


	2. A Friend In Need

I had done a lot in the past 24 hours. I'd built a fabricator construct, and a terminal with which to program in new designs. And now, with the terminal, I was designing a mythril foundry, which would process raw materials into a mostly consistent mythril wire. That would enable the fabricator to make things much faster, since it was working with mythril at a mostly consistent baseline.

Of course, you don't care about that. I'm the only one who cares about my industrial output. Blackstone, meanwhile, had gained clearance from Miya to roam the house unsupervised, and was currently in the basement, discreetly digging a hole down into the earth. I cleaned up the dirt and stone he displaced, using it in the construction of the foundry.

But, of course, because I said 24 hours instead of a week, something noteworthy happened to justify dropping out of timeskip. That something was a vision I received during a break.

_Sitting on a park bench is a woman. She has short, very light brown hair. A symbol is on her forehead, composed of a stylized bird, a taijitu below that, and a pair of tomoe to each side of the taijitu. She wears only one article of clothing: an oversized white button-down shirt, stained with blood, and resting atop her shoulders._

_She is very clearly having a breakdown, and probably fairly impressionable._

And then, the vision disappeared, leaving me with only a memory and a location supplied by the vision, and a mission supplied by my sense of duty.

"Where are you going?" Miya asked, as I walked towards the door.

"Out." I answered laconically. I had on a scarf covering my neck and most of my face, and one of those stereotypically Russian hats with the ear flaps. And for my hands, a pair of mythril gloves that afforded great dexterity without sacrificing warmth.

* * *

><p>Now, here's the thing about the blindfold. It's not normal fabric. It's mythril, making it fireproof, and will protect my eyes from quite a lot. But that's not all it does, nor is that the most impressive thing. No, what it does is take an image of what I would see without it, and project it inside the blindfold, thus lowering the light levels to what I can tolerate.<p>

Basically, I can see just fine with it, but it's still impossible to see my eyes, which I'm rather happy with. If you can't see my eyes, you can't see where I'm looking, nor can you see my vulnerability. As to why I haven't used it up to this point, that's simple: I didn't have enough juice to power it.

Thus, when I got to the park, I was able to see exactly where the woman in the vision was. I was able to find her. And I was able to watch her slowly lift her head to look at me.

"Are you okay?" I asked, genuinely concerned. Contrary to what you may think, I do have some empathy, and will attempt to help people who need it. Since I very rarely go out in public, that doesn't manifest often. But when it does… I've heard something about 'moving heaven and earth' in regards to how much I'm willing to help a stranger.

And come on, that was one time I stopped the rain and shifted a boulder off of someone's leg. Yes, I moved heaven by getting rid of the cloud, and the boulder counts as earth, but that's a more literal interpretation of things than was intended by the creator of that phrase.

"I'm… broken." she muttered, looking down again. "A failure."

"No you're not." I said authoritatively. "Failure is relative. If you can't do something, do something else. You just have to keep moving."

She looked back up at me, curiously, as though I had just grown a third arm out of my forehead, or I'd just given life-changing advice.

"C'mon. Get up." I said. "You're not sleeping on a park bench, you'll die of exposure. You are going to sleep inside on a bed, after taking a hot bath and eating a full meal." I offered her a hand up, and smiled.

She paused, before slowly taking my hand and starting to stand up.

"Alright, we're gonna take the subway." I said. "Follow me."

* * *

><p>"Alright, we're here." I said, holding the door open for Akitsu(I'd gotten her name on the subway). I'd loaned her a pair of geta so she wasn't barefoot, but I'd make some actual shoes for her later. We had arrived just in time for dinner, and I didn't particularly need to eat.<p>

"Ah, David, who is this?" Miya asked.

"This is Akitsu." I said. "She's hit a rough patch, and I'm compelled to help her."

"Was it another one of your contracts, bro?" Uzume asked.

"No, actually." I said, looking straight at Uzume. "It's this little thing called empathy, you should try it some time."

"Nah, ain't nobody got time for that." Uzume said with a dismissive gesture. She then noticed the symbol on Akitsu's forehead, and seemed to silently freak the fuck out. Miya glared at her to keep her from reacting audibly.

"You do realize that both Akitsu and I can see exactly what you're doing, right?" I asked, annoyed. "If there's something wrong, let's all be grownups about this and use our words."

"Wait, how can you see?" Uzume asked, right as Miya said "It's a long story." The two exchanged a glance, and somehow agreed that Miya's turn was first. All this was rendered moot by something very simple, very common, and very annoying: Kagari's cell phone started ringing.

He dug it out, looked at the screen, and muttered something unsavory about goats. He answered it, holding it away from his room.

"Ah, you're a hard man to contact, Mr. Anderson!" a loud, annoying voice said from the other end. I guess it was on speakerphone. "You don't even have a cell phone! What are you, a luddite?"

"Yes, waiter, I'd like a glass of context with this conversation." I said, allowing my confusion to become apparent. As it turns out, something simple(a vision) was now spiraling out of control.

"Ah, of course, where are my manners?" the man on the phone said. "I am-"

"Minaka Hiroto, one of the worst people you'll ever have the displeasure of dealing with." Kagari said bitterly. "Is there a reason you've called?"

"He said he was attempting to contact me." I said with a shrug. "He figured calling my roommate would work well enough."

"Smart boy! Have a cookie!" Hiroto said. "You see, you are now apart of a wonderful thing called the Sekirei Plan! You see, yea-"

"Shut up." I said, quite annoyed at this point. "Skip the background. Just tell me what's going on, and what I'm supposed to do about it."

"Impatient, I see." Hiroto said.

"No, I just hate the sound of your voice." I said flatly. "Now, out with it."

"Ah, such hosti-"

"Get on with it!" Kagari yelled.

"Get on with it!" I repeated.

"Ah." Akitsu said, before pausing. "Get on with it."

"...fine." Hiroto said reluctantly. "Free for all tournament, 108 beings called Sekirei. Fight until only one is left. Your job is to support your Sekirei and help them get stronger."

"Rules of engagement?" I asked.

"Do try to avoid murder, don't involve bystanders, and you may not target other humans directly." Hiroto said with a sigh. "I was looking forward to this, you know. I was thinking it would be a great day."

"I don't care." I said bluntly. "Go away."

There was a sound of a phone hanging up.

"Bro," Uzume said. "You've got stones the size of bowling balls, saying that to him of all people."

"Who even was that?" I asked. "I've never heard of him."

"Minaka Hiroto?" Kagari asked, attempting to jog a memory I didn't have. "The most powerful man in the world? Owner of MBI, medical and technological megacorp that's surpassed Microsoft in wealth?"

"Nope." I said. "No idea who you're talking about. Although it does seem like a stupid idea to start a pissing match with him."

"Yeah." Uzume said. "That was a really stupid idea."

"Well, what's done is done, and he honestly doesn't scare me." I said with a shrug. "Better men than he have tried to kill me, and obviously none of them succeeded."

"Looks like you have some stories to tell." Kagari said, shaking his head. "If you were two years older, I'd buy the drinks."

"Who told you how old I am?" I asked.

"Miya." Kagari said immediately.

"Why would you betray me like this?" I asked her, sounding genuinely betrayed. I was, of course, messing with her. I didn't actually care if everyone knew how old I was. Now, if they started treating me like a child because of that, then yeah, there would be problems. But aside from that, I don't really care.

Uzume looked at me oddly, since she probably wasn't aware of that until now, and was attempting to reconcile 16 years old with adoptive father of a dragon.

"Anyways," I said. "Now that he's gone, perhaps someone less annoying can explain to me what's going on?"

Kagari and Uzume both looked at Miya, and she sighed.

"My husband worked for MBI." Miya said as a disclaimer. "But he talked about his work. I know some things about the Plan."

"He really couldn't come up with a better name for it?" I asked. A sekirei, for future reference, was a bird that was also called a wagtail. "Like, I dunno… War of the Feathers? I just pulled that from nowhere. He probably had years to come up with a better name."

"Minaka was not known for being good at naming things." Miya said. "Please don't interrupt."

"Sorry." I said.

"Now, the Sekirei are, like he said, 108 beings of supernatural power who live in Tokyo." Miya said. "They look exactly like humans, with a few minor differences, such as hair color. But you don't care what they look like, I know, you're blind." Huh, odd colored hair? Where have I seen that? Oh, right, the landlady who radiates magical power and knows about the supernatural, she has purple hair!

Come on! Purple?! Do you not know what hair dye is?! You could so easily disguise yourself as a normal person! You don't even need hair dye, just rub a bunch of charcoal dust into your hair!

"You see, the important thing, to you, is that the Sekirei form a permanent bond with a human called their Ashikabi." Miya said. "It is a bond of purest love, and losing that bond is the worst fate a Sekirei can suffer.

"Akitsu here is a Sekirei. However, she was designated 'The Scrap Number', as she was unable to be winged, so to speak, and form the bond."

"You say was." I said. "Did that change?"

"Evidently." Miya said. "After all, if Hiroto would call you to inform you of your role in upcoming events in Tokyo, he considers you to be an Ashikabi."

"Huh." I looked over at Akitsu, who was holding up her composure quite admirably. "That… makes no sense, but then again, neither does anything about this."

"What's confusing?" Kagari asked.

"For one, what does he expect to get out of this?" I asked. "Even if you're ridiculously rich, you don't start a magical murder contest in the middle of one of the densest cities in the world just because you're bored. You have to be getting something out of it for it to make sense. Two, where did the Sekirei come from? They're too powerful to have been constructed by a modern wizard, so they came from somewhere. But where? You don't exactly find a hundred and change supernatural beings just hiding under a rock…"

"Erm…" Kagari said.

"The thing is…" Uzume said nervously.

"You've gotta be shitting me." I deadpanned, catching the thrown ladle. "Miya, stop throwing ladles at me. It's annoying and rude."

* * *

><p>More and more was explained over the course of the night. Uzume admitted that she, too, was a Sekirei, and that her Ashikabi was elsewhere. Kagari and Miya, despite being Sekirei as far as I could tell, refused to admit to it. I didn't mention my suspicions, though. I kept those firmly to myself.<p>

Also told to me was that an Ashikabi didn't have a hard limit on how many Sekirei they could wing, nor was the bond always consensual. Meaning that it was possible to bind a Sekirei to one's will using force. If I ever encountered an Ashikabi who did such a thing, I would amputate their legs at the waist.

And, last but not least, there was the promise of a prize at the end for whoever won. I suspected the prize was at best a middle finger, and at worst a front-row seat to Armageddon.

Naturally, I would not stand for this. As a Chromata of great power and moral character, I saw it as my duty to keep the body count below 10.

* * *

><p>"Alright, before we go to sleep, I just want to ask a few questions." I said to Akitsu, aware that getting an answer from her would be like pulling teeth. "Is that alright?"<p>

Akitsu nodded, making me once more aware of why this would be like pulling teeth. She was a woman of few words.

"First, do you have any sense of what it is you want to do?" I asked.

"Ah," Akitsu said, before pausing to consider this. Or steel her nerves. Either or. "To stay with you, Ashikabi-sama."

And there's another reason. She refuses to call me anything other than Ashikabi-sama. I suppose I'm stuck with her, for better or for worse. Not exactly complaining, though.

"I have no problems with that." I said. "But, I feel I should make this abundantly clear: I have several irons in the fire at the moment, and I may seem somewhat distant sometimes. In light of this, would you like to change your mind?"

Akitsu shook her head, and I sighed.

"Very well." I said. "I suppose those are all the questions I had… everything else can wait until morning."

Akitsu nodded, and laid down on the futon I'd put out for her. She looked up at me with questioning eyes, and I sighed once more.

"I don't sleep." I said. "But I'll remain quiet so you can sleep."

Akitsu nodded, and lowered her head. While she slept, it was time for me to continue what this whole misadventure had interrupted: the design of the foundry.

* * *

><p>The next day, Akitsu revealed that she awoke early. Half hour before dawn early. Or, if we're using temporal landmarks, halfway through designing the foundry.<p>

It's a difficult thing to design, okay? It needs to shred things to a consistent surface area, and then force said shreds into the transmuter, which needs to be adjusted for variability. This sort of thing isn't done overnight.

Well, scratch that, it'll only get done at night. It seems I have to juggle Akitsu and Blackstone during the day.

"Ah, you're awake." I said, powering down the terminal. "Right, well, we have some time until breakfast, so let's use this time to go through the wardrobe and see what fits you."

Akitsu nodded assent as she stood up, stretching in a way that made me worry about the shirt's tensile strength. Really, nobody in this house had a normal figure. I looked like a soldier, Kagari fit the definition of 'bishonen' pretty handily, and the women here were all variations of 'exaggerated porn actress'.

If I had been anyone else, I would've been in heaven, but I'm demisexual, and I can't really feel anything for any of them. They're all strangers to me.

And if I weren't demisexual, the fact that Akitsu seemed to have no modesty _and_ needed help dressing herself would've been a wonderful thing. Instead, I just felt like a dad trying to dress their child. Which sent shivers down my spine, as I could barely handle one charge. Two? I'd need help.

Eventually, Akitsu settled on a grey, almost frost blue kimono with a black obi. She made a few unorthodox adjustments, which I suppose were necessary by the reasoning that kimonos were not designed with Akitsu in mind. Still, I can't help but feel like a kimono is not meant to display more cleavage than any one woman should rightfully have. Or use a chain to keep it in place up top, or have another piece of chain run around her neck and tuck neatly into her cleavage.

Then again, I'm just the blind guy wearing a hoodie and jeans, what do I know about fashion?

* * *

><p>"David, what is this?" Miya asked, pointing at Akitsu.<p>

"Gonna need to be more specific, Miya." I said. "I have no idea what you're pointing at."

"Me." Akitsu helpfully supplied.

"Oh, I see." I said, nodding sagely. "First, Akitsu is a 'who' not a 'what'. Second, you probably know who she is better than I do."

"I was referring to her clothing." Miya clarified.

"Again, I'm blind." I said. "I have no idea what she's wearing, although it sounds like it's got a lot of loose fabric."

"So this was not your suggestion?" Miya asked.

"No, I just showed her the wardrobe and told her to pick whatever fits her." I said simply. "If there's a problem with what she's wearing, remember that she is most likely an adult, and can therefore wear whatever she chooses."

Miya looked at where she thought my eyes were(She was off by two centimeters), and sighed. "I can tell already that we shall have numerous disagreements."

"No we won't, we're both reasonable people." I said in disagreement.

Miya shook her head. "Breakfast will be ready shortly." And with that, she withdrew to the kitchen. Victory was mine.

* * *

><p>After everyone had eaten breakfast, I walked outside and whistled for a few moments. It took a few minutes, but soon enough a crow landed on my outstretched hand. I smiled at the awful, awful bird, reaching out with my other hand to stroke its head. Before it could react to my change of intent, I snapped its neck in an instant.<p>

"That's the second time you've done that." Miya commented. "How are you doing that?"

"It's a little gypsy trick." I said with a shrug. "Hate crows. They're the worst, y'know?"

"I can sympathize." Miya said. "They've infested the cities. They live on garbage, mostly."

"Well now I feel bad about feeding this to Blackstone." I said, looking at the dead crow in my hands. "Eh. He's never complained about it before."

I turned on my heel, stepped around Akitsu(who had not left my side since arriving at the inn), and walked inside.

* * *

><p>"Bon appetit." I said, tossing the dead bird at the burrowing dragon. "Blackstone, this is Akitsu. Akitsu, this is Blackstone, my adopted son."<p>

"Morning." Blackstone said, poking his head out of the burrow. "I'm Blackstone, the shapeshifting dragon that he calls son."

"Ah." Akitsu paused to consider her words. "I am Akitsu, his slave."

"No you're not." Blackstone said immediately. "I know my dad. You aren't his slave. Assistant, maybe. Ward or charge, probably. Slave? Not a snowball's chance in hell."

"You are, after all, free to leave whenever you want." I said, confirming Blackstone's assertion. "You aren't a slave."

"Although I will admit, the chains look nice." Blackstone said appreciatively. "Are they just an aesthetic choice?"

"They are to show my devotion." Akitsu said, idly toying with one of the chains.

"If what you want is a symbol, I have some you can use." I said, reaching into my pocket, before fishing out a pair of pins. They had an ornate, geometric, five-petalled white rose on them, and were about three years old, from back when I was the White Rose, rather than the Blind Seer. "The White Rose, official symbol of House Anderson."

"You just made that up." Blackstone said.

"Every tradition comes from somewhere." I defended. "Besides, you know as well as I that my title used to be The White Rose."

"Thorny and pale." Blackstone said. "I must say, it fit you rather well. And it wasn't as on-the-nose as The Blind Seer. Speaking of seers, did you meet Akitsu because of a vision?"

"...yeah, I saw her in a vision and had to help her." I quietly admitted. "Since I don't understand the meaning of 'someone else's problem'. Anyways, I guess I might as well bring these back." I handed the pins over to Akitsu. "Feel free to put those wherever."

Akitsu nodded, and placed them where she'd affixed the chain to her kimono. A wise move, I suppose. They were immediately visible, due to close proximity to Akitsu's rather prominent chest.

"If you want, I can put the White Rose on the back of your kimono later." I added. Akitsu nodded, and Blackstone huffed.

"I personally think it would be better named the Pentacle Rose." Blackstone said.

"Pentacle Rose sounds really stupid." I pointed out. "Also, I didn't create this symbol. I stole it from the House of York, and I may as well honor the original name."

"Ah, so you seek the throne of England?" Blackstone teased.

"Those damned Lancasters don't deserve it!" I playfully declared. "I'll show them, I'll show them all!"

Akitsu seemed rather confused, through some metric I don't quite understand myself since her face was still the blank, expressionless visage it was all the time.

"House York and House Lancaster were two noble families in England during the medieval period." I began to explain. "In what was called the War of the Roses, they fought over who would claim the throne, because the old, sickly king had neglected to name an heir before his untimely end."

"Ah." Akitsu said, nodding slightly in understanding. "I see."

"And that concludes History Lessons with David." Blackstone deadpanned. "Tune in next week for his view on World War 2."

"We agreed to never discuss that, you traitorous saurian!" I accused, pointing a finger at him.

"I never agreed to that, only Uncle Apollo and Grandpa did." Blackstone said.

"...damnit, you're right." I said, shaking my head. "Still, don't talk about that."

"Alright, fine, you big baby…" Blackstone said. "Leave me be, so I can eat breakfast in peace."

* * *

><p><em>Author's notes!<em>

_Alright, everyone, this chapter and the last one taught me that I can make these twice as fast as I release them. I'm serious, I finished this within a half hour of releasing Chapter 1. Meaning that, if I wanted, I could take a 1 week break from writing this shit. But I won't. Because I actually like writing._

_Anyways, we have introduced 1) Akitsu, 2) David's visions, and 3) David and Miya arguing._


	3. Milk Run

Two days passed, without much happening. I put the White Rose on the back of Akitsu's kimono, along with a cleaning enchantment which would also clean whoever wore it. Repair of the garment beyond removal of stains, however, would be done manually.

Since Akitsu had made my symbol relevant once more, I decided to paint it on the fabricator(which I had set to helping Blackstone dig, since it went much faster than he did, and more precisely) and foundry(well, the design of it. I still wasn't done with it.). I hadn't put it on my jacket, but I did put it on my blindfold, over my right eye, oversized so that the edges were cut off by the size of the blindfold.

But, as I said, not much had happened these past two days. The Month of the Fish tended to be a dull time, as the last month of winter. Nobody really wanted to do anything in these days, except stay inside and drink hot beverages.

Of course, if I tell you that the last two days were uneventful, it means something exciting happened today. And it did.

* * *

><p>"Hey, bro, been meaning to ask you somethin'." Uzume said.<p>

"Shoot." I said, idly tinkering with an enchanted pearl. As it stood, it wouldn't pair up with the other pearl, and thus was useless as a communicator.

"When you introduced me to Blackadder or whatever," Uzume began, gesturing at Blackstone's burrow.

"It's Blackstone." he corrected.

"Blackstone, right." Uzume said, nodding. "When you introduced me to him, I shoulda reacted with a lot more confusion than I actually did. So, uh… is it more of your weird gypsy magic?"

"Yep." I said, nodding my head. "I emit this aura that makes normal people ignore me. So, the first responders with their boats didn't notice me or Blackstone, since he has that aura too."

"I see." Uzume said, nodding along. "But what's that got to do with my question?"

"I'm getting there, be patient." I said. "See, on normal people without any magical capacity, the aura makes me unnoticeable. But on people with magic, like you, it just has a general calming effect. It makes you question things less. So, the blind guy catching one ladle and knocking the other one out of the air doesn't arouse as much suspicion if it was me who did it instead of almost anyone else."

"Oh, yeah, I kinda forgot about that." Uzume said, rubbing the back of her head.

"That's also the aura." I confirmed. "Makes you forget what I've done, so I can remain in the shadows. Or something like that."

"Does that affect me?" Akitsu asked.

"Yes." both Blackstone and I said simultaneously. "Although he can place a magical mark on you to grant immunity to his aura." Blackstone continued.

"I was working out of the book on that." I corrected. "I don't remember how to do that, and I left a lot of stuff at home."

"Oh." Blackstone said soberly. "Then how did you-"

"I've had to make and remake that fabricator so many times." I answered, loathing in my voice. "It's hammered into muscle memory."

"Ah. I see." Blackstone said in understanding. "How many-"

"Four hundred and fifty seven times." I said, cutting him off. "Four hundred and fifty seven times, I've had to remake that thing."

"That's a lot." Uzume said. "So, when're you plannin' on goin' back and grabbin' your stuff from America?"

"Once I get enough materials to build a transport." I said. "But there's about 10000 klicks between here and there, so it'll need to be a fast one. Plus, I'll have to bring someone with me to power the transport."

"I shall go with you." Akitsu immediately said.

"M'kay, then." I said amiably. "We'll be in transit for a while, since I can't build something as fast as an airplane. Plus side? We won't have to deal with air traffic control."

"Hey, if you could build an aircraft that could cross the pacific, even without your stuff that's at home, why didn't we just use that to get here?" Blackstone asked.

"Dad, quite rightly, does not trust any aircraft built by a 16 year old in a 3 bedroom apartment." I explained. "Er, did. Not does. Did."

"And we're done here." Blackstone said, going back into his hole.

* * *

><p>Man, this whole 'foundry' thing is a nightmare. I can't remember how I did it last time. But, I suppose there isn't much point to designing it, since I already have one at home I could go and get.<p>

Okay, screw the foundry, I'm going to design the hovercraft.

"Any ideas where I'm going to get the materials to make this damn thing?" I asked.

"You have a big pile of metallic mythril in the corner." Blackstone said. "Use that."

"That's enough for a framework, but I kinda need more than just that." I informed him. "What sort of powers do Sekirei have, Uzume?"

Uzume, fortunately, was still in the room. She found our company to be nice and quiet, while still allowing a good degree of socialization if she so desired.

"Well, it depends." Uzume said, turning a page in her book. "We've all got different powers. So, f'r instance, I can control cloth. Make it grow, harden like steel, that sorta thing. Maybe you could cover your frame in that?"

"Eh, it probably needs your presence to remain like that." I said. Some Constructs were able to make mythril, but most of what they made was temporary mythril. Cheap in terms of power, and great for temporary reinforcement of your bones and skin, but it faded faster than a styrofoam peanut in a jar of acetone if it wasn't renewed and sustained. Uzume's cloth was very likely mythril, and even more likely temporary. "Any other suggestions?"

"Ah." Akitsu said, raising her hand. "I can make ice that never melts."

"Okay, that's a step in the right direction." I said. "Even if it needs your presence, you've already agreed to come with me. How much can you make at a time?"

In response, Akitsu produced a large ice statue of myself and Akitsu, locked in some sort of dance.

"...hot damn." Uzume said. "Girl, that's fuckin' impressive."

"Wow." I said. "That… I… wow." The level of detail was genuinely impressive, looking like something that took a sculptor months of work to accomplish. It was frosted in some places, clear in others, rendered in such a way as to make clear what is going on, and who is doing it. In addition, the general forms were well-done. The cloth flowed the way it would in real life, the poses were dynamic, and in general I had no criticisms to offer. "I literally cannot find any fault in that."

"What? Lemme see…" Blackstone said as he scrambled out of his hole. "Whoa. Holy shit."

"That seems to be the consensus." I said soberly. "Yeah, I don't think materials are gonna be a concern for us anymore."

"No they will not." Blackstone said. "This is… this is the holy grail of material magic right here. Matter ex nihilo. Not even Cerst's old tomes had that knowledge in them."

He was right, partially. On one hand, as cohesive and complete as Cerst's manuals had been, they had nothing about matter ex nihilo. On the other hand, he had a big book all about conjuration, which was siphoning matter from another plane of existence(there was a fuckton of those, unsurprisingly) and was far less impressive.

"Yeah, this is some pretty impressive stuff." I said, not mentioning any of that. "This should speed up the process considerably."

Now, even though Akitsu had made it on a whim in less than a second, I'm not getting rid of that sculpture. I'll just kinda put it off to the side while I work on the actual transport. And that was just a matter of hollowing out a giant block of ice, then carving the appropriate sigils and runes on it. After that, it'd be a matter of putting a futon in there, and packing enough food to last us the whole trip.

* * *

><p>Of course, simple does not mean trivial. I was performing my most obvious display of magic since arriving here in hollowing out the icecraft. See, fire is really good at melting ice, and since I can shoot it from the palm of my hand, I used a lot of it. A whole hell of a lot.<p>

"Can you please not do that?" Blackstone said, coughing. "I am a fire-breathing dragon, and I think you're overdoing it on the fire."

"Relax, man, it's fine." I said from behind an enchanted cloth I used as a respirator. "All the fire and heat stays in the craft, and only the smoke's getting out."

"Dad, if there is smoke, you are using way too much fire." Blackstone pointed out. "You are using so much fire that dust in the air is combusting, producing smoke."

"Pft, nonsense." I said, even as I stepped down the amount of fire I was using. "If the building isn't on fire, then it's not too much. And if it's not too much, then it's too little, and too much fire is better than too little."

"I suppose this is what happens when a borderline sociopath is raised by a pyromaniac…" Blackstone commented.

"What do you mean, borderline?" I joked.

He had a point. Being raised by Harold Charles Anderson of the Yellow Wind, Ember of Amber, tends to leave one with a certain affection for fire and warmth. And collateral property damage. Given that Miya's inn seemed to be made of actual, literal paper, fire was a pretty dangerous thing around here.

So maybe I should switch to a drill or something, instead of fire.

* * *

><p>"Alright, Miya, we're heading out today." I said. "We should be back in three days or so."<p>

"Oh? Where are you going?" Miya asked.

"Austin. I'm going to retrieve my belongings there, and then I'm returning." I said. "In my absence, I hereby appoint you as Blackstone's guardian. Try to keep him fed and alive."

"Mornin', everyone." Kagari said as he walked through the door. "Busy night."

"What do you do, again?" I asked.

"I, uh, work in a host club." Kagari admitted.

"What's that?" I asked. Kagari looked at me funny, and Miya shook her head. "What? I don't get out much. Also, I'm American. I know pretty much nothing about modern Japanese culture."

"Basically, lonely women go there and pay a handsome guy to drink and flirt with them." Kagari said.

"That sounds exploitative." I said, contemplating this. "Also counter-intuitive. In America, nobody pays for that. They'd pay to make it not happen at all."

"Well, this isn't America, is it?" Kagari said with a shrug. "Besides, not like you're one to talk, mister fortune teller."

"Hey, I have some pretty solid proof that I'm not full of it." I said. "Besides, I don't charge money for that."

"Then how do you make money off it?" Kagari asked.

"I don't. I'm a jeweler by trade." I told him. "Fortune telling is just something I do on the side for fun."

"Oh. That makes more sense." Kagari said. "Right, well, I'm gonna head on off to bed now."

* * *

><p>"Aaand… we're clear." I said as we cleared Tokyo's airspace. "The pathfinder will handle things from here. We'll have a speed boost going out, and one coming in. That brings the trip there to a grand 18 hours, during which we have to entertain ourselves."<p>

Two attractive, young, single people, alone in a small room for 18 hours, and with nothing to entertain themselves with. It was obvious what would happen.

"So," I said. "Wanna trade life stories?"

Akitsu nodded, and gestured for me to go ahead.

Mine was a tale of gleeful mayhem and extreme violence, of roughly 60 self-defensive killings of sapient beings(and untold numbers of non-sapient beings), some of which were pre-emptively self-defensive. Mine was not a tale for the faint of heart or weak of stomach. Mine is the sort of tale that produces a 16 year old who can eat lasagna with one hand and perform an autopsy on a 3-month old, maggot-ridden corpse with the other.

"...and then I came to find you, and you know the rest." I concluded. "So. Do you mind telling your story, or would you rather not?"

If she withheld her story, it would be because she wasn't comfortable talking about it, not because she thought I would judge her. She knew just as well as I that I wasn't in any position to judge.

"Ah," Akitsu paused, then continued. "I will tell you."

* * *

><p><em><strong>The following section is from Akitsu's perspective<strong>_

I could not scream- they had drugged me with anesthetics, so I could not move any muscles. But it was imperfect. I could still feel the needle going into my veins, I still felt the virii ravaging me, and yet I could not scream.

I knew, intellectually, why they did this. I was the Scrap Number, unable to be winged, and useless for MBI's plans. So they used me as a test subject, that they didn't have to be careful with. But that was little comfort to a child who had been deliberately injected with the black plague, just to see what would happen.

It was only because of the ironclad immune system of the Sekirei that I survived. By studying my leukocytes, they developed immune supplements that they thought would make them a lot of money.

When it came time to test on living subjects, the death rate was 100%. The project was shelved, and they stopped testing on me. I was then put in a room, separate from the rest of the Sekirei, and the only friend I had was Sekirei #2, who talked to me using the computer they had given me to keep me occupied.

With that much free time, I began to refine my skill with my power, until I could create sculptures from a mental image in a mere second. I also learned to speak many different languages. Korean, Chinese, English, Spanish, German… I was fluent in all of them, because I had naught but free time.

* * *

><p><em><strong>And now we return to David's perspective.<strong>_

"Wow." I said. "I can't imagine how much pain you must have been in."

"Your guess would be an accurate one." Akitsu said. "Your life was very difficult, as well."

Well, that wasn't a record, since she had just spoken for a solid four minutes, but it was still more than she usually spoke.

"Yeah, there's some parallels." I agreed. "Isolation because of a medical condition, followed by a lot of pain, then more isolation."

* * *

><p>We arrived in Austin at high noon, and landed in the parking lot in front of the apartment building. I opened up the door, and the two of us stepped out. I was thankful it was a weekday, and nobody was here right now. I was supposed to be away for a month, not that anyone would recognize me or Akitsu.<p>

As I climbed up the stairs, I sighed. That sigh was punctuated by a fist to the jaw, spinning me on my heel and sending me sprawling to the concrete floor. I landed on my back, with the Equalizer in my hands, and fired off a shot to the sternum.

"Heheheheheh…" a familiar voice said.

"Goddamnit, Doc, I fucking hate you." I said, climbing to my feet and fixing my jaw. Doc Bell was one of those people you hate to the point where it's hard to leave alone. For me, anyways. "One a these days, you ain't shruggin' off a slug to the sternum."

"Pft, my bones are all metal." Doc said, rapping his chest with his knuckles. "Your bullet stung, but it didn't really hurt."

Behind me, Akitsu lowered her arms, and the cloud of icicles dissipated into nothingness.

"See you got yourself a friend with ya." Doc said, looking behind me. "Must say, I appreciate your taste."

"Kiss my ass." I grumbled. "Why the hell are you here?"

"We had a contract, remember?" Doc said. "You turn my bones to metal, and I'll give you a little slice of my power. I felt the transfer stop when you left, and felt if start again when you got back three weeks early. Decided to come check it out."

"Yeah, well, I came back early to grab my stuff." I said, rubbing at my still sore jaw. "Shit's goin' down in Tokyo, and I'm not at liberty to discuss."

"You are, however, at liberty to kick ass and take names, right?" Doc said, to a nod from me. "Good. Maybe I can assist you?"

"I'll give you a call if I ever decide I want your company." I deadpanned. "As it stands? Nah. I'm fine with just myself and Akitsu here."

"Oh ho, so the girlfriend has a name." Doc said, outstretching a hand. "Name's Doctor Thomas Bell. Feel free to call me Doc. Everyone does anyway."

Akitsu looked at the hand, then at me. I shrugged, and Akitsu nodded. Doc's hand remained unshaken.

"Cold." Doc said, withdrawing his hand. "Appropriate for a cryokinetic like you, I guess. So how'd you two meet?"

"Had a vision, saw her having a breakdown, and had to intervene." I said with a shrug. "You know about my oath, right?"

"Yeah, you swore a blood oath to protect those who can't protect themselves." Doc said. "Dumbest fuckin' thing you've ever done, if you ask me."

"Guess what, I didn't ask you." I said with a scowl. "Now get outta here before I shoot you in the eye."

"Eh, I can just grow it back." Doc said with a shrug.

"Still an inconvenience." I said as I shot him in the eye.

"Son of a bitch…" Doc said, hissing, and covering his eye.

"Speaking of my family, they're dead now." I told him.

"Huh. You're handling being an orphan fairly well." Doc said, managing to talk through the haze of pain. "Damnit, that stings."

"Now scram, or I'll take the other eye."

"Fine, fine, sheesh." Doc said, walking away from us, putting an eyepatch on. "You owe me for this, you fucker!"

"Not a chance in hell, dickweed!" I yelled back. "Such a lovely friendship, we share." I said softly to Akitsu, with a smile on my face.

* * *

><p>We walked into the apartment, after I unlocked the door. A mythril lock meant that I didn't need a key, only a rudimentary understanding of locks and tumblers.<p>

"Welcome to my humble abode." I said, looking around at the living room. "We'll spend the day here, and head back to Tokyo in the morning. I should only take ten minutes or so to get all my stuff packed, and after that we can do whatever we please. Sound good?"

Akitsu nodded, and I smiled, before going off to pack up all my equipment. The Bag of Holding stretched to accommodate the foundry, and the two fabricators, and the several terminals. Then I packed up all the books, which I shouldn't have left here in the first place.

* * *

><p>"Well, I'm done packing." I said. "Anything you feel like doing in Austin while we're here?"<p>

Akitsu considered this for a moment, and shook her head. "I wish only to be with you."

"Funny, that's what I had in mind, too." I said with a grin. "Since, uh, well… I understand a few things better now, thanks to your story." Such as, when Miya said 'it's a bond of love', she hadn't meant platonic love. She had meant romantic love. And since Akitsu seems to see us as having that bond(a notion I can go with), that means Akitsu feels at least a little affection towards me.

"And I was thinking," I continued. "since you gain your wings from a kiss, and we never did that…"

Akitsu was quick on the uptake, and her expression, despite not changing much, definitely conveyed a sense of bashfulness. I was confident that few others than I would have noticed.

"Ah, that would be…" Akitsu paused, her miniscule blush almost becoming visible to the naked eye. "...that would be nice."

Our kiss could be described as gentle, tender, tentative, all sorts of descriptors meaning we were timid and didn't know what we were doing. However, I like to pretend I'm a gentleman, and a gentleman does not kiss and tell.

* * *

><p><em><strong>This following scene is from a third-person omniscient perspective.<strong>_

David and Akitsu awkwardly stepped towards each other, David's face showing color for the first time in quite a while. He leaned in, and timidly pressed his lips against Akitsu's, marveling at how soft they were. Both of them closed their eyes, to focus more on the tactile sensation.

David brought his hand up to grab the back of Akitsu's head, and wound itself in her silky hair. She began to purr softly, as she pressed her body against his. Her arms wrapped around his shoulders and waist, exploring his back. His other hand, in turn, came down to squeeze her ass.

Akitsu made a small 'eep' of surprise, opening her mouth for a moment. A moment was all David needed, and his tongue slipped through into her mouth, running along her gums and teeth. From there, she all but melted into his grasp, arms going limp.

This cued David in to the fact that he should probably stop. He carried Akitsu to the couch, where the two of them spooned for a while.

* * *

><p><em>Author's notes!<em>

_Yeah, David's life story is _not_ going to be in here. His story is really, really fucked up, and he's only a functioning person because 1) he was a Red Wind, and they are built of sterner stuff than you or I; 2) he has a Blood Oath binding him into proper, sane behavior; 3) did I mention that he's a tough bastard? Because he is. He really is. David is made of iron(Not literally, for those who haven't read Ventus Chromae)._

_But! If you really, really want to read David's life story that was so fucked up… well, first, I can suggest you go read Ventus Chromae, but I can also point you at the Omake section, which will be posted simultaneously._


	4. The Red Wind, Part 1

We got back early in the morning, before even Miya woke up. I managed to get the hovercraft back into the basement(There was apparently some sort of hatch/trapdoor for a motorcycle of an indeterminate owner. I managed to rig it up so I could open it remotely.), and roused Akitsu from her slumber.

"Morning, dear." I said, attempting to get both of us to our feet. Akitsu murmured something incoherent, and merely cemented our position on the floor. I sighed, and resorted to using the Wind to levitate us both.

I thanked the stars above for the fact that I could navigate stairs while carrying a sleepy Sekirei, and made my way to my room. Opening the door was tricky, but I did it. And when I did, I saw I had a surprise waiting for me.

"Ufufufufu… back so soon?" a very attractive redheaded woman said lasciviously.

I closed the door once more with my foot, then opened it again. She was still there.

"Who even are you?" I asked the smiling, naked redhead. "And why are you in my room?" I didn't feel like revealing my gift of eyesight just yet, so I neglected to mention her lack of clothing.

"Ufufu… Matsu-tan thought she would surprise David-tan…" the self-identified Matsu said.

"Fair warning, I hate surprises." I said. "I see 'pleasant surprise' about as oxymoronic as 'pleasant kick in the groin'. Now, if you would be so kind as to move off of my futon, I'd love to set Akitsu down. People are heavy, as it turns out."

"Mm… you'll have to make it worth Matsu-tan's while." Matsu said with false consideration. "How about… a contract?"

I froze, before looking directly at Matsu. Illusory red glow emanated over my eyes.

"You've been listening, haven't you?" I asked, my voice low. "Seems the walls have ears."

Matsu started looking nervous, probably knowing that nothing good would come of this.

"Fortunately for you, I don't really have any secrets I'm trying to keep, and thus I see no need to plug this leak." I said, the glow disappearing, and my lips quirking up into a smile. "Now, here's an idea: you leave immediately, and we can pretend this never happened. You'll get a chance to make a better first impression."

"Er… good idea." Matsu said, jumping to her feet and dashing around me. "I remember nothing!"

"Clever girl." I muttered, low enough that nobody heard me.

* * *

><p>While Akitsu was in the process of waking up, I was unpacking. The tomes and their bookshelf got put in a corner of the room, facing the center of the room and tilted diagonally. I slid the foundry in behind it, with some gaps between the bookshelf and the walls so that the fabricators could get to the foundry.<p>

I had a much more sophisticated terminal now, and set that on a desk I had brought with me. This terminal connected to the internet, not that I ever really used that capacity for anything other than learning how to program. Despite being a blind superstitious luddite without even a phone, I was actually pretty computer literate. I've even coded a 2 dimensional physics simulator, complete with customizable physics objects with off-set centers of gravity, and rockets.

"Mhmm…" Akitsu mumbled, waking up and probably stretching.

"Morning, dear." I said. "Ready to finally wake up?"

"Mhm…" she said in affirmation. "'M r'dy…"

Why does she have to be so cute when she's sleepy? And why do I have to be so vulnerable to it?

* * *

><p>"Good morning, Miya." I said. "I trust Blackstone was well-behaved?"<p>

"Oh, he was a little angel in your absence." Miya said, looking down at Blackstone, who'd been following behind her. "Isn't that right?" She seemed to emanate an aura of fear, and an illusion- it had to be, I refused to believe it to be anything else- of a purplish demoness mask appeared, causing the tiny dragonoid to crouch down, and try to make himself smaller.

"Screw you, I don't have to listen to you!" Blackstone said, dashing over to me. "I claim sanctuary!"

"...well, I'm not sure what I expected, but it wasn't that." I said flatly. "So I take it he informed you of… circumstances?"

"I tried to hold out, but she was merciless!" Blackstone said, crawling into my hood. "She sought every piece of information she could get out of me!"

"Calm down, man. None of that is really a secret." I assured him. "So, what all did he tell you?"

"Why, I'm afraid that isn't my secret to tell." Miya said, covering her mouth with her sleeve, in an attempt to hide a grin.

"You're right, it's my secret, and I'd like to know what you've discovered." I said. "Please, let's not play coy here."

"Give up, Dad. She's impossible." Blackstone stage-whispered conspiratorially. "She is as stubborn as Grandma was."

"Blackstone?" I said, looking on with growing apprehension as Miya began to grow a black aura of fear and loathing.

"Yes?" he replied, looking away.

"Maybe it was a bad idea to compare her to my mother." I informed him.

* * *

><p>"Is everyone still alive?" Uzume said, sticking her head through the doorway to observe us.<p>

"It's all over now, smartass." I said, looking over at her. "It's safe to come in."

"I'm going to sleep with a nightlight after that…" Blackstone whined piteously.

"Well then." Uzume said, walking in to take a seat. "Is breakfast ready?"

"I'm afraid I haven't even started yet." Miya said, standing up. "I should probably go do that."

"Damnit, Miya, what do we even pay you for?" Uzume facetiously complained.

"Oh? I was not aware that you paid rent." Miya said, her eyes glowing red and the demon mask making another appearance.

"Ack! Sorry! Sorry!" Uzume said, shielding herself from the mask. Honestly, it wasn't that bad. A little unsettling, but it wasn't actually threatening.

On the other hand, I've cheated the Reaper so many times that I don't have near-death experiences, they have near-David experiences. And they bring a book to read for those. Maybe I'm just not easily cowed.

"Miya, quit terrorizing your tenants." I said tiredly. "Tis better to be loved than feared, after all."

"That's not what Machiavelli said." Blackstone pointed out.

"Dude, _The Prince_ was so dripping with sarcasm that you could fill a glass with it." I said. "Besides, Miya is a landlady, not a despot. At least one of us is free to leave at any time."

"Yeah, well, I'm stuck here." Uzume said. "Since I can't find a job."

"You can sew, can't you?" I asked. "Do commission work as a tailor."

"Nah, that would make too much sense." Uzume said with a dismissive hand gesture. "Plus, that would cut into my video-game time, and I'm not prepared to make that sacrifice."

"She makes a fair point." Blackstone said.

"By the way, is Blackstone supposed to look like a black you when he's in human form?" Uzume asked. "Cause, uh, that's a thing that happened."

"He usually does that, yeah." I confirmed. "It's meant to make it seem like we're twins with opposing pigmentary disorders."

"Oh. Cool." Uzume said.

* * *

><p>"...and then Miya did the <em>hannya<em> thing again." Uzume said, finishing the story of what had happened in my absence.

"Well, there goes any sort of trust I had in you." I said, looking at the smiling Miya. "I am never trusting you with any charge of mine ever again. Not even if you're the last suitable guardian in Tokyo."

"Never leave me behind…" Blackstone said. "Or, if you do, trust me to take care of myself."

"You aren't even three yet, I'm not leaving you alone for extended periods of time." I told him, looking over my shoulder. For some reason, Blackstone enjoyed pretending to be a scarf. A cold, scaly scarf that talks.

"So? I'm a dragon. The rules are different for me." Blackstone said. "In my true form, without any magical manipulation, I am bigger than a blue whale."

"Still a whiny little bitch." Uzume joked.

"I could swallow you whole." Blackstone threatened. "You live because Dad seems to like you."

"I'm flattered, bro, but I'm afraid I'm taken." Uzume said with false sincerity.

"Whoever they are, they're lucky." I said honestly.

"Nnnnot really…" Uzume drawled reluctantly. "They're not exactly in the best of situations right now."

"Ufufufufu… finally, Uzume-tan reveals the details of her Ashikabi!" a very familiar voice said from the ceiling.

"Matsu, get down from there." Miya said, sounding tired of Matsu's antics.

I calmly tipped backwards, allowing Matsu to land on my lap instead of my head. My ability to gauge ballistic trajectories was really, really useful.

"Nice catch." Blackstone commented.

"I try." I said with false humility. "Now, if you don't mind, kindly disembark the HMS Anderson."

"You're American, you would be the USS." Blackstone said. "Not even that, you're not in the military. You'd be the MR."

"MR?" Uzume asked, confused.

"Merchant Registry." Miya answered. "But merchants generally sell things."

"Which he's done." Uzume said, pulling out the convention passes I gave her. "I got these, in exchange for… what was it, again?"

"Part of your soul." I said. "I mean, you still technically have all of your soul, but part of its output gets channeled to me."

"Oh, is that all?" Uzume said sarcastically. "Wait. Can you actually take someone's soul?"

"I will neither confirm nor deny that." I said mechanically. I could, technically, claim someone else's soul. But that would require me to break my Blood Oath. The one that would kill me if I broke it. "Anyways, my point remains. Get off of me."

Matsu reluctantly got off of me, and sat down next to me, placing me between her and Akitsu(she was here, she just wasn't really talking).

"Ufufufufu… Matsu-tan has arrived…" the third-person redhead said.

"A pleasure to meet you." I said, pretending I had never met her before. "I'm-"

"David Alexander Anderson, Age: 15 years, 11 months, 2 days. Place of birth: Austin, Texas." Matsu rattled off before I gestured for her to stop. "Matsu-tan knows you."

"I didn't know we had another Oracle around here." I said with a sigh. "How do you get your visions?"

"Matsu is a hacker." she said. "Plus, all that information was publicly available."

"Oh." I said, mildly put out. "Would you like me to teach you how to scry?"

"Bro, no!" Uzume shouted, extending a hand and leaning forward. "You will regret that!"

"While I don't like taunting Murphy, what's the worst thing that could happen?" I asked.

"Oh no…" Uzume and Blackstone said in unison. "This will end in war…" Blackstone muttered. "This will end in a war the likes of which has only been seen twice before."

"Ease up on the melodrama, buddy." I said, tilting my head to look Blackstone in the eye. "I'm not saying the war won't happen, but if it does, it won't be because I taught Matsu how to spy on people with magic."

"Oh, the hubris of the magician…" Blackstone bemoaned. "Twill be the end of us all."

"Hush, you." I said, annoyedly.

* * *

><p>"Alright, so while I can technically just give you a scrying orb, I'd rather teach you the proper spell for it." I said, sitting down across from Matsu. Akitsu took a seat directly to my side and behind me. "However, I'm afraid I can't do this for free. Or, I can, I'm just unwilling."<p>

"Ufufufufu… Matsu-tan can think of a few ways to repay David-tan…" the hacker said, playing with the cleavage window cut into her white qipao. It had a pair of oversized white sleeves sewn on, with her shoulders exposed.

"I don't know you." I said beleaguredly. "I'm demisexual, I don't feel attraction without an emotional bond."

"But David-tan can still appreciate glorious breasts, right?" Matsu said, hopeful.

"I can." I said, nodding. "However, it seems a very lovely pair of them has attached themselves to my girlfriend, and as such I am satiated in the breasts department."

I could, somehow, feel Akitsu's joy at that statement. It was an odd sensation, feeling someone else's emotions. It was even stranger to feel Akitsu's emotions, since she seemed to keep such a tight lid on them.

"But, I wouldn't have brought you in here if I didn't have an idea." I continued. "I'll teach you how to scry if, for a year and a day after today, you truthfully and completely answer any question I ask to the best of your knowledge. This covers any sort of information-based inquiry, such as asking for a map, or a dossier."

"Deal." Matsu said instantly, sticking out a hand for me to shake. I reached out, my own hand covered in illusory blue flame. We shook, and the flame spread to cover her right hand. When she pulled back, there was an outline of the White Rose on the back of her hand. "What's this?"

"The mark of House Anderson." I said. "Since you're contractually obligated to perform a service for the head of the house, you've been marked with the White Rose."

"Can it be somewhere else?" Matsu asked, sounding a touch more serious than she usually was.

"Yeah, I just picked the back of the hand because it was the first to spring to mind." I said. "Where ya want it?"

"Base of my neck, on my back." Matsu said, turning around to show me the area in particular. "Where the Sekirei Crest goes."

"The what?" I asked. I dimly recalled some offhanded mention of it, but I had no idea what it was other than that it went on a Sekirei and specifically over the spinous process of the 7th cervical vertebra. Don't know where that is? Feel the back of your neck. Feel around for a bone poking out far more than you should be reasonably comfortable with. Right there. That's the spinous process of the 7th cervical vertebra.

"The Sekirei Crest is a mark that appears on the back of the neck of a Sekirei when they bond with their Ashikabi and gain their wings, marking an increase in power and the ability to use a power boost and special attack collectively known as a Norito. To activate and use their Norito, a Sekirei must kiss their Ashikabi." Matsu said, before pausing to take a breath. "Then, the Sekirei says a special prayer also called a Norito, and then a thematically appropriate attack is named and used. When another Sekirei places their pointer finger over the crest and speaks their own Norito, the Sekirei's crest disappears, along with their bond to their Ashikabi, and they collapse to the ground, unconscious. MBI comes to collect them and bring them to an unknown place I speculate to be some sort of stasis lab."

Anyone else would stop her and tell her to take a breath. Me, I paid for exposition, and I'll be damned if I stop her from telling me things when there isn't anything particularly important going on.

"This is not the only way to lose a Sekirei Crest, however." Matsu continued, looking horrified by her inability to stop. "One can lose a Sekirei Crest whenever one is sufficiently damaged, whether it be in a fight or through other circumstances. A sharp blow to the back of the neck will most likely suffice as sufficient damage." Matsu finished, and inhaled deeply, before exhaling through her mouth. "I instantly regret that decision."

"I don't." I said with a smile. "I suddenly have a lot more information than I did before, and that was just from asking one question. Imagine what information I'd get if I asked you to write a report on the Sekirei, including their origin…"

"I… don't have to write that!" Matsu said victoriously. "You didn't actually ask for it, so Matsu doesn't have to do it!"

"Could you, though?" I asked politely. "No hurry, just… try and get it to me in a week or so. Doesn't have to be in-depth, I just need a few details."

"Sure, sure." Matsu said, dismissively waving her hand. "Matsu can do it. But first, David-tan needs to follow through on his end of the bargain!"

"Absolutely. So, first, I need to awaken your soul." I said, extending a hand to touch her forehead with my fingertips. "Hold still."

* * *

><p>"Okay," I said, coughing. "That didn't work as planned."<p>

"Ow…" Matsu said, rubbing her forehead. "Nevermind…"

"What just happened?" Uzume said, poking her head into the room. "What was that noise?"

"Magic hates me and wants us all to suffer." I said, still coughing.

"Oh, is that all?" Uzume said.

"That, and I think I might've given Matsu a minor concussion." I admitted.

"Matsu-tan is fine…" Matsu said. "It wasn't that big of an explosion."

"...bro, you're fuckin' weird." Uzume said, sighing deeply. "I'm goin' back to my nap. Try to not make any more explosions."

"I make no promises." I said as she departed.

"So, Matsu was wondering…" Matsu began as the door slid closed. "Matsu doesn't have an Ashikabi yet, and can't exactly leave the house…"

"I don't think I have the capacity to become an Ashikabi." I admitted. "From what I've been able to glean from leaving my magic-senses on all the time, the Sekirei Crest is activated by a little bit of magic energy from the Ashikabi. Every bit of magic energy is watermarked, in a sense, by the soul that produced it. And right now, my soul doesn't produce any magic energy at all. So you wouldn't be bound to me, you'd be bound to Uzume, or maybe Akitsu. Depends on which energy I pour into the bond."

"Nope!" Blackstone said, walking into the room. "I've been looking through the archive, and found some interesting information that's relevant. Now, Matsu, remember how the reaction to you falling from the ceiling was subdued? That was David's doing, in a way. The Shroud of Void, which makes him and those associated with him seem unremarkable, considers you to be associated with him."

"Your point being?" I asked. I could tell his magic senses were active, and I knew he had much more developed magic senses than any Chromata.

"_Intrinsically_ associated." Blackstone clarified. "As in, the Shroud of Void considers anything Matsu does to be associated with you, simply because Matsu's the one doing it. Same with Akitsu. And my point? Well, if Matsu wasn't within the Shroud, her crest wouldn't automatically take energy from you to attune, nor would her crest be reacting to your presence like this."

"Yeah, but my point is, I don't have any energy of my own." I said. "That's kinda a big issue."

"False." Blackstone said, rearing up on his hind legs and gesturing with his foreclaws. What he saw of my soul was projected as an illusory screen before us. "Your soul, however dimly, has begun to glow once more. I have reason to suspect that, for every Sekirei attuned to you, your soul will regain a bright, blazing glow."

"That…" I said, pausing to consider this. "Well. That is… Huh."

On one hand: I could be free of my need for contracts, and have power of my own besides the senses. On the other hand: I am not going to force anyone to attune to my soul, not like that.

"By the way, the Shroud means you can't wing a Sekirei immediately after meeting them." Blackstone said, dispelling the image and falling forward onto his forelimbs. "Thus, it'll be a more… involved process for you than it would for anyone else."

"Okay, that's good to know." I said. "I'd have to do something to let them through the Shroud?"

"And they'd have to be reacting to you." Blackstone said. "Do forgive me, but I don't feel like telling you how to circumvent that."

Easy. Just charge a power crystal with my energy, then zap it into the Crest.

"You wound me." I said, looking hurt. "One, it's easy to figure out, and two, I'm not that kind of person. I find that kind of person to be contemptible, and deserving of crucifixion."

"Ufufufufu… Matsu made a good choice." the redhead said, leaning against me and looking up at my face. "Since it turns out David-tan can give Matsu her wings…"

"So needy." I said with a sigh. "Akitsu? Any complaints or comments you'd like to make known?"

Akitsu shook her head. "I have no complaints."

"In that case…" I said, leaning down to kiss Matsu. Both of us tilted our heads at odd angles to do this, but we made it.

Then, Matsu grew wings of light. Green, like her namesake(Matsu meant pine in Japanese), and angular. Polyhedral, almost. Like primitive computer graphics, in fact. And, I cannot stress this enough, the sheer, ethereal _beauty_ of the wings was breathtaking.

"Whoa." Blackstone said, his magic senses likely being overwhelmed. "I just learned a lot."

* * *

><p>That night, Matsu came into the room, wearing some sort of pink sleeping gown.<p>

"Oh? David-tan isn't asleep yet?" Matsu asked, tilting her head curiously.

"I don't sleep." I said, looking at my terminal. "Sleep is for the weak, and I am made of iron."

"How?" Matsu asked, sitting down behind me. "Sleep happens to everyone."

"Magic." I said. "More specifically, I'm unable to sleep because of a curse. One that I placed on myself, in fact."

"Why?" Matsu asked.

"Productivity." Akitsu answered, revealing her status as 'still awake'.

"David-tan has plenty of time during the day to get work done…" Matsu said, wrapping her arms around my waist. "He can take a break and get some sleep."

"Didn't I just say I'm incapable of sleep?" I asked. "Besides, I then cursed myself to forget how I did that curse. I can't undo it."

"Damnit, Matsu wants to cuddle with her Ashikabi." Matsu said, finally giving up and being direct.

"I'm not stopping you from doing so." I said. "Just… try to leave my arms free. I kinda need those."

* * *

><p>Well, as it turns out, I am not nearly as immutable as I had thought. Matsu had dragged me off to the futon, and here I would lie while the two Sekirei used me as a pillowheater. Once I was sure they were asleep, I pulled off my blindfold, and got a good look at the two of them with my own eyes.

For some reason, I couldn't remember why I didn't want to come to Tokyo. Had I known who I'd meet, I would've said yes in a heartbeat.

* * *

><p><em>Author's notes!<em>

_Alright, well, first and foremost, David is starting to open up, and we've answered the question of 'why doesn't he sleep'. The answer is autocursing. That means self-cursing, not automatic cursing. He did it for productivity reasons. 'Sleep alone takes up 6 hours of my time. Getting ready for sleep, finding a place to sleep, and all sorts of other sleep related activities take up enough time to bump that to 8 hours. Imagine how much more productive I could be if I didn't need to sleep! Where's that damn book of curses?'_

_For the first three months, it backfired horribly. But then David adapted, and became able to function without sleep. The hallucinations went away, too._

_For those of you saying 'there's no way someone can go that long without sleep!' keep in mind that David is a _wizard._ The laws of physics and nature are like traffic laws to him: easily broken if you're in a hurry._

_Next: the chapter names. This one is a reference to 1) Matsu's red hair and 2) David's return to his original status as a Red Wind, rather than a Black Wind. The difference being that a Red Wind has their own supply of magical energy, and Black Winds do not._


	5. Sweet Dreams

The last few days of winter passed rather quickly, and I began having to store tailings from the excavation in the Bag of Holding. Then Matsu suggested I use the tailings to make more fabricators, to speed along the excavation.

"Won't that just make it pile up faster?" I had asked at the time.

"True. But now there's a use for it!" Matsu had explained.

I had seen a bit of fault in that logic, but I didn't have any better ideas, so I just went along with hers. It wasn't a bad idea, admittedly. It just meant I would have more fabricators than I knew what to do with soon.

By then, I'd know what to do with them. Even if it was just basic rapid-prototyping stuff, I could stand to make a lot of money off of it.

* * *

><p>"Remind me again why this was necessary." I ground out, walking down the street in the blazing, springtime sun. "I can't quite remember why it was such a burden for you to handle this."<p>

"Miya figured it'd be good father-son bonding time." Blackstone said, walking beside me in human form. He looked like me in all respects but pigment and attire. Whereas I was pale and white as a sheet, Blackstone was darker than charcoal. I didn't dress very neatly, since I didn't leave the house as a general rule. Blackstone, on the other hand, had taken up the habit of dressing sharply from his grandfather.

"And so she sends the blind albino and the shapeshifting dragon out into the unsuspecting streets of Tokyo." I said, sighing. "There's something else at work here. She's pulling our strings, I just can't see what she's- hold that thought." I casually sidestepped and leaned back, catching a falling woman in such a way as to arrest most of her momentum and do minimal damage.

Naturally, I was left flat on my back, with about 70 kilos of person on top of me.

"What the fuck?" Blackstone said, more curious than alarmed.

"Ow…" the woman said piteously. "I knew that building was too high to jump from…"

"Are you okay?" I asked, attempting to get myself up off the ground. "What happened?"

"Oi!" a loud, obnoxious voice yelled from the rooftops. "Quit running!"

"You're only making it harder on yourself!" another, similar voice yelled from right beside them.

"Okay, I get it now." I said, getting to my feet and pulling up the woman- likely a Sekirei, since she had the Crest on the back of her shirt, and she had ridiculously oversized breasts, a common trait among female Sekirei, it seems. That, and my magic senses told me her soul was anchored in her center of mass, which was also a shared trait among all Sekirei. Although, I don't think it was normal for there to be _two_ souls anchored in her body...

"Dad, can we take them?" Blackstone asked, looking apprehensive.

"Don't have to." I said, beginning to back up. "We can outrun them."

* * *

><p>As it turns out, yes, we could outrun them. But they could shoot lightning at us. Nobody told me about a pair of Sekirei twins who could shoot lightning! And I had paid for intelligence so I wouldn't be surprised!<p>

"Dad, they're getting more accurate." Blackstone said worriedly, looking back with a mirror. "And we're still far from home."

"Daddy's got a plan." I said, drawing my pistol. I'd made a few modifications to it since arriving in Tokyo. Or, rather, to its ammunition. See, the Equalizer has been able to fire magical rounds ever since I was able to enchant them. But now, I had enough magic energy to make what I called Flares.

These flares weren't what you might think. These flares fired a giant laser that was mostly for show. Made a hell of a show, though. And when fired to barely miss two Sekirei who don't know magic like I do, it tends to scare the shit out of them.

"Daddy's also got a giant laser." I continued, watching with satisfaction as the twins got spooked and ran for their lives from the crazy guy who shoots lasers from a revolver.

"Daddy fights dirty." Blackstone said, rolling his eyes. "Now come on, let's go get… the… where is the list?"

"It got struck by lightning." I admitted. "On the plus side, we made a new friend." I gestured towards the Sekirei in some sort of shrine maiden outfit, who had fallen and landed on top of me. She nodded, then keeled over, unconscious. "And of course said new friend faints on us."

* * *

><p>Anyone else would have to worry about getting weird looks or maybe even arrested if they were a pair of foreigners, one white as snow and the other black as night, carrying an unconscious, busty woman down the street, most likely to their home. However, we were protected from strangers judging us by the Shroud of Void.<p>

However, it afforded us no such protection from a judgemental landlady.

"There's a good reason for this." I said, using one of my hands to hold up a finger. "See, there were these two Sekirei with lightning powers chasing her, and when they ran away from the crazy white guy with the magic, she fainted. She's been mumbling about being hungry, so that's probably it." Good god, that was abysmal. Where did my briefing skills go? Or did I just never have them in the first place?

"I suppose we'll have a guest for lunch." Miya said. "Cooked with the ingredients you did not buy."

"Not our fault the list got struck by lightning." I defended. "Plus, I kinda fired off a giant laser in public, and that tends to get noticed."

"Also, please don't send him out again." Blackstone pleaded. "He burns like gunpowder, and will never let you hear the end of it."

"I am not supposed to be red!" I said, looking at my reddened skin. "Christ, this is going to be a terrible few days while this heals up."

* * *

><p>Our shrine maiden friend with the very short red skirt was ambulatory once lunch was ready. At that point, she proceeded to eat so much that I found myself watching with what one could only call fascination.<p>

"Where does she put it all?" Uzume whispered, leaning in.

"I think I have an idea…" I said, not-so-subtly eyeing the miko's massive mammaries.

"True, that's probably it." Uzume said, nodding her head.

"That, plus I think she might have two souls." I continued. "You need to eat a lot to support two souls, especially when they burn that bright."

"Oh. Bro, you need to explain that magic stuff sometime." Uzume said. "Because I can't follow half of what you say."

"Okay, so imagine you have a furnace that powers a generator." I said. "That furnace burns just about anything organic, including food."

"And that's what a soul is?" Uzume asked.

"Yeah, basically." I said. "I mean, there's a matter of Conservation of Energy getting bent over a desk, but nobody can really give an answer for why that happens aside from 'magic' and maybe 'parallel universes'."

"Yeah, I'm used to that." Uzume said with a shrug. "So… who's she?"

"Number 88, Musubi." Matsu said, peeking out from over my shoulder. "She fights with brute strength, not having any weapons or special powers beyond strength and speed."

"I have never made a better contract." I said, a satisfied smile on my face. "By the way, Matsu, I looked over the thing you gave me, and I have a comment."

"Oh?" Matsu said.

"I can't read japanese script." I said flatly. "Fairly sure I said that before."

"Oh." Matsu said, deflating.

"I can." Blackstone said. "I can translate for you."

"Oh, sweet." I said, moderately pleased with that.

* * *

><p>"Ah… thank you so much! The food was delicious!" Musubi said, rubbing her full stomach.<p>

"So much…" Blackstone whimpered. "She ate so much…"

"Even the dragon is disturbed by how much she can put away when she's hungry." Uzume whispered.

"It was no problem." Miya said. "It was always my husband's policy to never turn away someone in need."

"So," I said, sitting up a bit straighter. "Are you uninjured? You fell pretty hard, back there."

"Oh!' Musubi said, as though she forgot about the fall. "Uh… Musubi is fine!" Aaand she speaks in the third person, too. Wonderful.

"That's good to hear." I said, nodding. "If you need a place to stay, rent here is pretty cheap. Plus, it means more meals like the one you just had."

"Oh!" Musubi said, happy. Then she deflated. "Musubi forgot her MBI card, she was in such a hurry to go out and find her Ashikabi…"

"Well, there's about two months worth of rent that hasn't been used…" I muttered. "Don't worry about the money, then. We won't let you starve."

"Pretty generous, bro." Uzume said. "Maybe I can get you to cover my rent, too."

"Now, now, Uzume, one shouldn't abuse someone's generosity." Miya scolded.

"It isn't a problem." I said honestly. "Besides, if I do pay Uzume's rent, she's not getting it for nothing."

"Oh no." Uzume said, with mock dread. "I'm so scared of what he might demand as payment."

"Mercenary work." I deadpanned. "I'll supply the weapons and equipment."

"Oh. Really?" Uzume asked.

"No." I said with a sigh. "I meant more along the lines of 'take this to the pawn shop and sell it for me'. Minor errands like that."

"Oh, okay then." Uzume said.

"Aaaand a larger portion of your magic energy." I concluded.

"Deal." Uzume said, extending her hand to be shaken. I accepted the handshake, and smiled.

"Pleasure doing business with you." I said, letting go and looking back. Power flowed through me like blood, reminding me of my old obsession with the crimson fluid. I'd managed to break myself of that, though it was difficult. "I'm glad we didn't specify how much power, and that you usually have no use for it."

"But… you can let me have my power when I need it, right?" Uzume asked concernedly.

"Yeah, I'm not trying to screw you over here." I assured her. "I'll build you a power crystal that'll give you juice when you need it."

"Okay. Thanks, bro." Uzume said with a grateful sigh.

"No problem." I said. "Like I said, I'm not trying to screw you over. I'm just using the magic energy that would otherwise go to waste."

"Mou… Musubi is confused…" Musubi almost whined.

"Eh, don't worry about it. I'll explain later if you want." I said with a dismissive hand gesture. "Anyway, I suppose we should really introduce ourselves. I'm David, the one with the ponytail is Uzume, the short-haired one is Akitsu, the redhead is Matsu, and the purple-haired landlady is Miya. Blackstone is the guy who was here a few minutes ago, but… well, he disappeared on us. He does that."

"It's so nice to meet you all!" Musubi said, looking very excited. "Musubi didn't really meet many people before she left MBI Tower…"

"Well, we ain't exactly normal people 'round here…" Uzume admitted sheepishly. "So don't think we're a good example of how normal people act. Because we aren't."

"There's, what, now four Sekirei in the house?" I asked, intentionally lowballing it to conceal my knowledge of the truth. "Four magic bird-people, a gypsy miracle worker, his adopted shapeshifting dragon son, a hot host, and a purple-haired landlady who looks like a throwback to the early 20th century."

"Yea- wait, did David-tan just refer to Kagari-tan as 'hot'?" Matsu asked, surprised.

"I did in fact describe him as hot." I said, nodding. "And he just walked into the room, didn't he."

"I'm awake, at last." Kagari said flatly, taking a seat at the table. "So who's this?"

"Oh! My name is Musubi!" Musubi enthused.

"Yeah, she's very aware of the goings on in Tokyo." I told him. "Part of them, in fact."

"I kinda guessed." Kagari said, quirking an eyebrow. "Anyways, did you seriously call me 'hot'?"

"I did. Those are the words I used, they are the words I will probably use in the future." I said, sounding a little tired. "As annoying as your arbitrary skepticism is, you're still an attractive man."

"...what?"

"What?"

"What?"

"Did I never tell ANY of you?" I asked, looking around at the sea of confused faces. "I don't have a gender preference. I know I told Akitsu… Guess I didn't. Now you know."

"Okay… uh… I think I'm going to keep my distance." Kagari said, backing up a little bit.

"Dude, really? You're gonna be that guy?" I asked, very annoyed. "I'm not going to hit on you. Even if I was, you of all people should be able to deal with that."

"Hey, I'm completely straight!" Kagari indignantly defended. In response, I pulled out a medal and threw it at him. "What's this say? Uh… _First Place in Missing the Goddamn Point_. What point did I miss?"

"You work in a host club, idiot." I said, beginning to gesture to emphasize my point. "You should be more than used to people you aren't attracted to flirting with you."

"Yeah, you missed the point by a big gap, Kagari." Uzume confirmed. "You're not even in the same city as the point."

Uzume and I high-fived solidly.

"Anyways, if you were trying to make sure I lost all romantic and sexual interest in you, you did a solid job of that." I concluded. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go check on something."

* * *

><p>"Hey, Blackstone." I said, walking into the basement. "You got a minute?"<p>

"Yeah, I can talk." Blackstone said.

"What the hell are you digging that hole for?" I asked. "Just… why?"

"Huh? Oh! It's because I know you'll need a bunker soon enough." Blackstone said. "Don't ask how, I can't tell you. I can only tell you to look to the stars."

"...really?" I said flatly. "You know I hate that cryptic seer bullshit."

"You do it all the time." Blackstone defended.

"I also kill people fairly often, but I don't want to die." I pointed out, crossing my arms. "Wait. That isn't a valid defense."

"One, false equivalence. Two, you _murder people_." Blackstone said with a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. "If it weren't for the fact that you're fiercely protective of those you care about, and your honesty, you'd be a terrible father."

"But I'm not." I said with a smile. "Because I take care of my own, and I don't lie to them. Anyways, I came down here for a different reason, but I got sidetracked by giant hole."

"Spit it out, then." Blackstone said, sitting down on the bench.

"Did you notice that Musubi has two souls?" I asked.

"Yep. The dormant one seems to be repairing the active one, from some sort of damage the active one acquired." Blackstone said. "I can bring the dormant soul to the forefront, if you want."

"That might not be the best of ideas, but I don't think it'll end poorly." I said with a shrug. "If I tell you to get me a taco, in those words, I want you to activate the dormant soul. Whichever soul happens to be dormant at the time."

"Gotcha." Blackstone said.

* * *

><p>"Oi, Uzume, I got a job for you." I said, knocking on her door.<p>

"Ugh. Come in…" Uzume said, sighing. "What do you need?"

"Well, since Musubi doesn't have anything other than the clothes on her back, I was hoping you could put your tailoring skills to work and make something for her to sleep in." I said, closing my eyes under the blindfold. Uzume was… well, not entirely dressed. At all. I mean, yeah, my only lie was about being blind(and wearing a blindfold, it's a pretty effective one), so I can understand why she isn't too uncomfortable with it. On the other hand, she is a friend, and I'm fairly certain that you're not supposed to see your friends naked. I'm not sure. I could be wrong. Never really had friends before.

"Oh, uh… okay." Uzume said. "Can you send her in here? I'd go get her myself, but I'm too lazy."

"Sure." I said, walking out. "Might want to put on clothes in the meantime." And with that, I closed the door.

* * *

><p>I had just laid down, and Akitsu was about to join me, when a knock came on the door.<p>

"Yes?" I asked, getting back up. "What is it?"

I opened the door, revealing Musubi to be standing there. She was wearing what appeared to be an oversized T-shirt, albeit one that was tailored pretty well to her form.

"Musubi can't sleep…" she admitted. "Do you mind if I sleep in here?"

"...I'll lay out another futon…" I said, turning to make good on my words.

"Thank you so much!" Musubi said, hugging me from the side. She was a little enthusiastic, and managed to tackle me onto my side.

"I can't exactly- wait. Musubi, are you alright?" I asked, looking at her flushed face. She looked almost feverish. Either she was sick, or she was… oh no, oh stars above no. Not again. What the hell.

Musubi's wings were a brilliant pink, appearing to be a solid color without deviation. They were an ethereal kind of beauty, more clearly illusory than Matsu's. Perhaps, if I had known Musubi for longer, built a stronger bond, I would have enjoyed the sight more. As it stands, I was a little uncomfortable.

"I have found you… my Ashikabi…" Musubi said, her voice breathy.

Matsu and Akitsu are going to kill me, I can tell. Or… actually, maybe not. I don't _sense_ any anger from Akitsu, only mild surprise. Therefore, I might live long enough to be killed by my oath, like I always thought I would.

Or maybe I'll die for something else I didn't account for. The world is a big place, after all.

Alright, David, focus. You think fast, but evidently not _that_ fast.

"Uh… what the hell?" Smooth. So elegant. 10/10. Truly, I am a wordsmith of unmatched skill and charisma, surpassed by none and unchallenged by all.

* * *

><p>Everyone was too tired to do much talking, and so I had to wait until morning. That meant about 9 or 10 hours of lying perfectly still, while three women used me as a mattresspillow/heater. I wasn't exactly complaining, but I'd rather sleep through this than be awake. Looks like I'll have to practice my cursebreaking.

But, I was a patient man. I was very patient. So patient that I tried several times to teleport myself, or possess an idle Fabricator so I could get something done. These attempts, hampered by my inability to move or speak, ended in failure.

"You look a little under the weather, bro." Uzume commented as I walked into the room.

"There are… practical limitations, shall we say, to sharing a bed with multiple people, especially when you are incapable of sleep." I said, actually tired for the first time in a while.

"David-tan should see a doctor about his insomnia." Matsu said, half-asleep and riding on my back.

"You should see a doctor about your narcolepsy." I retorted. "You have been asleep for the better part of 10 hours straight."

"That's normal for Sekirei." Uzume informed me. "I mean, some of us only need the usual 8 hours, but that's pretty rare."

"I've met but one of those…" I said, looking at Akitsu, the only one who was fully alert and awake.

"Mornin, all." Blackstone said groggily, walking in wearing his human form. In the absence of any actual clothes, he wore a fleece bathrobe. "I'll be indisposed for the day."

"Doing what?" I asked, turning only my head to look at him.

"Well, I've been reading the books, and I've begun dabbling in portal magic." Blackstone said. "With any luck, I might be able to summon up some Outsiders."

"Make sure you got a way of getting rid of them in case they aren't friendly." I warned him. "Besides, I thought you were dabbling in soul magic."

"I can multitask, unlike you pitiful humanoids." Blackstone said with a shrug. "By the way, I'm sufficiently awake to execute the Burrito initiative right this instant."

"Then do it." I said, gesturing at Musubi.

"What the hell does 'Burrito Initiative' mean?" Uzume asked as Blackstone cast a spell. There wasn't any effect visible to the naked eye.

"Uh… What happened? Where am I? And what am I wearing?" Musubi's body asked, looking around. It wasn't Musubi in there, anymore. Instead, it was whoever that second soul was.

"Don't know, The Izumo Inn, and I think that's a tailored, oversized T-shirt." I answered, sitting down and carefully setting Matsu aside. "Mind telling us who you are?"

"I'm Yume… but I should be dead." Yume said, looking at herself. "I guess I'm in Musubi's body… I knew I was giving her my tama, but I didn't know my consciousness would go with it. How long has it been?"

"It is currently 2019 in the common calendar." I said. "And I think… Travel 24th?"

"March 24th." Blackstone corrected.

"The common calendar has stupid month names." I grumbled. "3 of which are actual names for people, and another two were named after actual people."

"Bro. You're doing the thing." Uzume complained. "The thing where you talk as though we know what you're talking about, when you've never told us."

"Okay, I'll shut up about calendars." I acquiesced. Stupid, arbitrary start and end point… "Anyways, it's the third day since the Vernal Equinox. 2019 years have passed since the start of the Common Era."

"It's also Sunday." Uzume casually added.

"Are you normally like this?" Yume asked.

"What, going off on tangents all the time? Yes we are." I said. "I once went off on a twenty minute rant about wooden sandals."

"Please don't do so again." Blackstone pleaded. "You get really passionate about the weirdest of things."

"Could you do whatever it is you brought me back for?" Yume asked. "I'm very uncomfortable right now, and I'm not entirely sure why."

Blackstone and I exchanged a glance, and diagnosed it as one. "Dysphoria."

"Your inner identity doesn't match your outer expression." Blackstone explained, fairly certain at least one person would ask what that meant. "Understandable, considering that you're in Musubi's body, not your own. We'll try and get you your own body, so you don't have to share one."

"Do I get to customize this body?" Yume asked.

"It'll come with a shapeshifting capability." I answered. "Limited to humanoid forms, since I have no idea how to replicate Blackstone's shapeshifting."

"It involves a pocket dimension and several violations of the laws of physics." Blackstone admitted.

"Wait, bro, you can make spare bodies?" Uzume asked.

"Well…" I hesitated. "The short version is: kinda. Do you want the long version?"

"...No." Uzume wisely decided. "No I don't. Anyways, what was the point of summoning Yume or whatever?"

"Mostly, we were curious as to why Musubi had two souls in her body." Blackstone answered.

"And by mostly, he means entirely." I amended. "So, Yume, are you ready to go back to sleep?"

"Very much so." Yume said, nodding. "I died so that Musubi could live a full, fulfilling life. Do try and help her get that, would you?"

"Certainly." I assured her. "I suppose I can empathize with the self-sacrifice angle. Blackstone, if you wouldn't mind doing the honors…"

The spell was reversed, and Musubi's soul came back into dominance. Musubi, being groggy, probably assumed she had just passed out or something.

Miya came out of the bathhouse a few minutes later, and began the daily task of feeding a bunch of hungry supernaturals.

* * *

><p><em>Author's notes!<em>

_Alright, this one is a bit longer than usual. I'm establishing a trend of longer chapters, and hopefully they won't take too much more time to complete._

_Anyways, the title's meaning here is twofold: 1) David's insomnia is touched on again, and 2) Yume is japanese for Dream._


	6. Green With Envy

Blackstone had managed to set things up so that Yume was able use Musubi's senses and talk to her. That way, the far more experienced and wise Yume could advise her naive charge.

"Your sides are open!" Miya yelled, whacking Musubi in the side with her sword.

I'll back up a bit: Miya owned a katana. Musubi had, this morning, seen Miya practicing by cutting sakura petals in half as they fell from the tree. Impressive, but not exactly an indicator of combat ability. Musubi had, however, enthusiastically requested a spar, and thus Miya was teaching Musubi the art of fighting through a time-honored tradition: beat the shit out of them until they learn better.

With Yume in her head, Musubi was learning quickly, thanks in no small part to Yume's original body apparently being so similar to Musubi's. It took me all of one second to realize that Yume probably experienced dysphoria in her old body as well, and was probably some flavor of transgender. So, out of the 10 people living in this house(Holy shit, that's a lot), there's 1 trans person. That sounds about right.

"Kai!" Musubi yelled as she summoned a shield of light to hold off Miya's assault.

Oh, right, one other thing: Yume had some flavor of hard light as her power, and Musubi was able to use that. We had neglected to tell Miya these things, and so the look on her face when Musubi suddenly was able to create forcefields?

Priceless.

* * *

><p>"Looks like I have a lot to learn…" Musubi said, rubbing her head. She had a few lumps, which I was in the process of examining. They didn't feel like they were on top of fractures, and they'd probably go down in a day or so.<p>

"Well, that was your first spar with someone other than your trainer." I assured her. "There's nothing to worry about."

"Trainer?" Musubi asked, tilting her head.

"...You didn't get any sort of combat training before they sent you out, did you." I deadpanned, quite disappointed by the head shake I received in answer. "That's a shame. Well, we can correct it."

"Oh no. No no no. Dad, please, no." Blackstone pleaded, knowing what was coming.

"What's wrong?" Uzume asked. "I mean, I know it's gonna be something mindbendingly weird, since Bro's involved, but what's so bad?"

"Dad is… well, remember those little fabricator bots he makes?" Blackstone asked, referring to the humanoid metal Constructs that stood roughly 50cm high and built things. "He sometimes makes bigger ones, person-sized ones, installs martial arts knowledge, and sets them to 'kill'. That's how he teaches you how to fight."

"It worked for you, didn't it?" I pointed out.

"Yes, but it hurt like a-" Miya tapped her ladle in her hand, and Blackstone swallowed hard. "It hurt like the dickens."

"Well, do be sure to clean up after yourselves." Miya primly said. "I think I will go start breakfast now. David, come help me chop vegetables."

"That's a bad idea." Blackstone said. "I mean, you do remember that he's blind, right?"

"It's fine." I assured him. "I can cut vegetables without sight."

* * *

><p>"So, how exactly was Musubi able to do what she did out there?" Miya asked quietly, intending to get information out of me.<p>

"Magic, I would presume." I bluffed. I wouldn't lie to Miya, but I certainly would obstinately refuse to tell her anything useful.

"And yet, she shouldn't be able to do that sort of magic." Miya countered, beginning to peel a potato.

"Hm… let's see, her Ashikabi is a magician… how did she learn to do magic she shouldn't be able to do…" Misleading wasn't technically lying. I was simply presenting true facts and allowing Miya to draw her own, incorrect conclusions. "Oh! I know! The guardian soul residing within her was awakened and now shares its power with Musubi!" Again. True. Very much true. But still misleading, as my admission had a scent of sarcasm on it.

"Oh my, I didn't know that was a possibility." Miya said, sounding genuine. It seems my misdirection failed.

"...I'm going to have to be careful with you, I can tell." I muttered.

* * *

><p>"Alright, Musubi, I've managed to scrounge together an opponent for you." I said, leading her into the basement. "You win by beating them until they can't move. It wins by pinning you to the ground or wall."<p>

This opponent was a 150cm humanoid… well, it was humanoid in a vague sense. It looked like a big metal stick figure. The head was even a wire cage with the ocular and balance sensors inside, simulating the eyes and inner ears. If Musubi somehow knew to go for the eyes, it would be blinded. If she went for the ears, it would be off-balance and easy pickings.

"Remember, if you hit it in the head, it'll be disoriented. Hit it in the head so hard that the head dents or is removed outright, it stops moving." I informed her.

Musubi approached it, settled into a clumsy stance, then began adjusting it with presumable instruction from Yume. I sighed, thumbed the remote, and the android lept forward, lunging at Musubi.

She caught it easily, but its momentum(It was made of metal, so it wasn't exactly light. Maybe 40kg) carried them backwards, into a tumble. Musubi hooked her heels onto the bar that was its hips, and harshly extended her arms and legs, arching her back. The android was torn in two at the waist.

"Good job." I said. "Now, just do that a few more times, and then we're done." I told her, thumbing the remote again and beginning to walk up the stairs.

"A few more? Huh?" Musubi uttered in confusion, before she noticed the dozen or so more of them lurching from the shadows. "Oh. This is gonna be fun!"

That girl is crazy, and will come to appreciate the sound of crunching metal.

* * *

><p>"Uh, Dad?" Blackstone said, approaching me from behind. "What the hell is going on in the basement?"<p>

"Musubi is learning how to fight by tearing apart androids." I said simply. "The fabbers reclaim and repair the broken androids, upgrading their skills gradually in the process. By this point, they're starting to use actual martial arts instead of just half-assed wrestling."

While I dealt with Blackstone, I was working on the terminal. Design work, mostly. Beacons and portals, and the application thereof. Mainly, I was working on putting beacons in arrowheads, so that I could shoot someone with said arrow, then signal a bunch of portal-equipped laser cannons to fire on the beacon's position.

So far, I was running up against a brick wall. Magic, and magic engineering, and magic engineering design, all of those were really, really _hard_. Even if I have a book directly in front of me about how to do all of this, I just can't quite wrap my head around it. And thus, I do a simple brute-force solution that would probably fail several times for every time it actually worked.

"And you thought that was a good idea, why?" Blackstone prompted, tapping his foot and crossing his arms.

"Because we're in the middle of what seems to be a magical violence contest, and Musubi has no training at all." I answered. "Akitsu will get her turn soon enough, with a limiter so she can't use anything other than her natural strength."

"Mhm... " Blackstone muttered. "Ever think that maybe, just maybe, you push people too hard?"

"No, I don't." I retorted, turning to face him. "In a scenario where everyone needs to know how to fight, I do not think I am pushing them too hard by teaching them how to fight, using the quickest method available to me. Would you rather they not know how to fight, and get killed because of that? I certainly don't want that. Neither do they. So, training."

If you care about someone, you want them to be happy and healthy. Therefore, you help them find happiness and maintain their health. Since I'm both knowledgeable about medicine and an expert killer, maintaining their health means teaching them how to fight and patching up any injuries they sustain.

Simple logic. Sure, pragmatism may not be very 'romantic' but then again neither is being dead.

The terminal beeped behind me, notifying me of an incoming email that wasn't spam. Matsu had, upon learning of the terminal and my ability to use it, immediately made me set up an email account. I sighed, and opened up the message.

From: Director Minaka  
>To: All Ashikabi<br>Subject: The Green Girl  
>Message: In the Botanical Garden downtown, there is a cute Sekirei, ripe for the taking! First come, first serve! Could you be the one to make her emerge?<p>

"Blackstone. Go get everyone." I barked, pulling out a carbine and a few magazines. "Tell them to meet me here. We're going on a rescue operation."

* * *

><p>"Alright, we have a connection." I announced, turning my attention away from the freshly-installed comm. "Matsu, can you hear us?"<p>

"Loud and clear." Matsu confirmed. "Hangar door is opening… now. You are clear for dustoff in 5 seconds."

"Roger that." I said, resting my hands on the controls. "Everyone, I was a little sparse on the briefing, so Matsu's going to handle that."

"Sekirei 108, Kusano, is located in the Botanical Garden, which has been locked down to the general public and is guarded by MBI troops." Matsu said as the craft lifted off. "The Director has issued a challenge to every Ashikabi to try and wing her. Her power of controlling plant life is allowing her to hide well, but her power of being 8 years old is not helping at all."

"And as a father, I cannot allow a small child to come to harm." I further explained. "Thus, the rescue. Since neither of you have held a gun before, I'm not going to bother giving them to you. You already have ranged attacks, anyways. Well, Akitsu does."

"Oh! Musubi can shoot lasers with Yume-sama's help!" Musubi contributed.

"Excellent. Well, when I say 'weapons hot', that means 'get ready to shoot someone'. When I say 'contact', that means 'I've seen someone and they might not be friendly'. Feel free to say that when you spot them, if you see them before me." I explained as we rushed over to the Botanical Garden. "And when I say 'prep for dustoff' that means 'get back in the hovercraft, we're about to leave'. Everyone got that?"

Musubi and Akitsu nodded. Uzume had refused to come, claiming that the favor I asked was outside of the contract. I hadn't pressed the issue, and left without her. Blackstone rolled his eyes, and checked his carbine again.

"Alright, everyone, we're almost there." I said, looking through the windscreen. "Weapons hot, we don't know what's ahead of us."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Third person omniscient<strong>_

"Hey, guys? What the hell is that?" Nameless Soldier 32b said, pointing at the incoming giant block of flying ice.

"...Am I tripping balls?" Nameless Soldier 47f asked rhetorically.

"Shoot it, you idiots!" Nameless Sergeant 12a ordered.

A dozen or so soldiers opened fire on the icecube, peppering it with bullets. However, the thing about the icecube was that 1) it wasn't actual ice, but a hardened, armored _stuff_ that took hits like a champ, and 2) it was going really fast.

* * *

><p>"What the hell?" Kaoru Seo said as he looked up at the icecube passing overhead. "Is my hangover really that bad?"<p>

"You were drinking last night?" Sahashi Minato asked, looking at the older slacker. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Kid, shut up." Seo growled. "I can't even remember why I brought you along. I mean, yeah, you have the potential to be an Ashikabi, but you don't have any Sekirei."

"You said earlier that was the exact reason you brought me along, though." Minato pointed out.

"And I'm starting to regret that." Seo muttered.

* * *

><p>"Aha! Found you, you little brat!" Yomi said, storming into the clearing. She, by virtue of being an adult, well-fed and rested, and having strength &amp; speed based powers, caught Kusano almost immediately. And by virtue of being a disposable minor character, this was immediately followed by the icecube hitting the ground hard about ten meters behind her, followed by a shout of "Contact! Weapons hot!"<p>

"Step away from the girl, or I will shoot you." David growled.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Return to 1st Person<strong>_

I had some advantages in this scenario. One, I had a gun and she had a scythe. Not even a practical melee weapon, a fucking _scythe_. It would be useless for combat, and for agriculture, too! Two, I had three people backing me up, whereas she was alone. Of the three people, there was a shapeshifting dragon holding an automatic carbine, a cryokinetic who can conjure a cloud of razor-sharp ice crystals, and a chick who can punch through walls and shoot lasers from her eyes. Three, I am very motivated to take the little one somewhere safe, and make sure she's alright. And four, did I mention I have a gun? That's kinda a vital thing here. Sure, we could take her even without guns, but with guns, she doesn't even register as a threat.

"Hah! You think a gun's gonna work on a Sekirei?" the maid-looking woman boasted.

"I said step away from Kusano, or we're going to find out." I ordered. "We're gonna play a game called 'How many times are you going to get shot'. The counter is at 0. Back away in the next three seconds, or it goes up to 1."

She merely grinned and hefted her scythe.

I shot her in the gut.

She coughed blood, collapsed to her knees, weakly mewled the word "Master…", and fell onto her face. The back of her neck, where her Sekirei Crest was, glowed briefly. A quick inspection revealed that she no longer had a Sekirei Crest.

Kusano, meanwhile, looked very scared.

"Are you okay, little one?" I asked softly, putting away the carbine and kneeling down. "We're here to take you home."

Kusano peeked out from behind her eyes to look at me, and sniffed. She'd clearly been crying.

"R-really?" Kusano asked, a little suspicious.

"Yep. I promise." I said. My promises were, for obvious reasons, a little more meaningful than those of others. "Do you know where your home is?"

"Uh-uh! Ku-chan doesn't want to go back there!" Kusano insisted.

"Oh. Okay then." I said, a little surprised. "Do you want to live with us instead?"

"Uh huh!" Kusano said, climbing to her feet. I carefully picked her up, and began walking back to the craft.

"Prep for dustoff, everyone." I said, lowering my head. "We're going home."

"Contact!" Blackstone shouted, spotting someone off in the distance. I turned around to look, and saw four people approaching. Two Dreamers and two Sekirei, who appeared bound to one of the Dreamers.

"Wait!" Musbi shouted. "We can't leave! We have to guard the fallen until MBI comes to pick them up!"

I sighed, and pointed at Blackstone. "You. Take the ship and go home. I guess we're walking."

Blackstone complied, and I pulled my carbine out again, holding it one-handed.

"And you four!" I shouted at the approaching quartet. "Don't take another step! I just shot someone, and I'm not afraid to do it again!"

They froze, until the Ashikabi in the group sighed. "You have lightning, just shoot him with that."

"Seo, you idiot, that's the guy! The guy who shot a giant laser at us out of a pistol!" one of the Sekirei said. Now that they mentioned it, I did recognize them as the ones who had been pursuing Musubi.

"Yeah, we're not going to antagonize that guy." the other one said, a bit more calmly.

"Smart girls. Now, I'm not sure why you came here. Maybe it was altruism, making sure Kusano was okay. Maybe it was greed, wanting her power for your own." I began, my blindfold obscuring a stern glare. "But I don't care. She's safe now, and if you present a threat to said safety, I will end you. Do I make myself clear?" I activated a talisman hidden in my jacket, mimicking Miya's hannya mask technique. Blackstone had developed it after extensive research, reminding me that he was the technical genius of us two. My genius, if it existed, was in other areas.

Ahem. Moving on from my minor complexes, the talisman worked wonderfully: all four of them were terrified, and the people I actually knew and cared about were unfazed. Even Kusano was unaffected by the mask of malice.

"C-crystal." the Dreamer said.

"Good. Now, get lost."

* * *

><p>MBI took their sweet time arriving, time which I spent holding the now-asleep Kusano close to my chest. It was odd, how quickly I had come to think of her as my adopted daughter. Odd, but not unexpected. I had almost an affinity for small children. A desire to protect them, unbidden by my oath, sprung organically from my own being.<p>

No, it was not a sex thing. I'm not a pedophile. I just somehow know how to handle children.

But, MBI showed up eventually to reclaim their broken fledgeling. In a helicopter.

"Whoa, this is a lot more serious than we thought." one of the paramedics said, looking at the fallen Sekirei's body. "Doctor Sahashi, you might wanna go talk to the psychopath over there."

"I resent that remark." I retorted. I'm not a psychopath. Maybe a sociopath, but not a psychopath. I'm far more composed than your average psychopath.

"Alright, what happened here?" a white-haired woman said, stepping out of the helicopter. Judging by her body language, she was the boss. Judging by her white labcoat, she was probably the aforementioned Doctor Sahashi. "Who're you?" She didn't seem to have a soul, which was, at best, mildly interesting. None of the doctors here had souls, actually.

"My name is David Alexander Anderson, and I am mildly confused. Who are you?" I replied nonchalantly.

"Sahashi Takami. What happened here?"

"Well, I can't allow small children to come to harm, so I came here to make sure little Ku was safe." I said. "I'm probably going to adopt her."

"..." The silence was palpable, and I deigned to smile a bit. "...Aren't you 15?"

"Not for much longer." I answered. "My birthday is in… a week and a half, I think."

"Congrats, kid, you get the blue ribbon for Missing The Point." Doctor Sahashi deadpanned. "My point is, aren't you a little young to be adopting a child?"

"Why yes, yes I am." I said. "However, I very rarely act my age. Oh, and, not to put too fine a point on it, but could we possibly get a ride to the nearest train station?"

"And why would we do that?" Doctor Sahashi asked, looking like she was in no mood to be helpful.

"Because you're nice people and wouldn't force an albino to walk two and a half kilometers through the sunlight?" I suggested.

* * *

><p>Motherfuckers made me walk. But imagine my surprise when we got out of the veritable jungle that the Botanical Garden had become, and saw a bunch of Sekirei holding weapons and looking angrily at me.<p>

"Don't wake her." I warned. "She's had a long day and I swear to god if any of you wake her I'm going to shove your head so far up your own ass you'll see your vocal cords."

"Our master requires that we bring him the Green Girl." the one with the sword and orange scarf said.

"Hm… answer me these questions three, and you can attempt to claim her." I said, holding her a bit closer. "Question one! When was the Battle of Hastings?!"

Everyone looked a little stumped at this, and I pumped up the Shroud of Void with excess magic. With the last little bit, I made an illusion of a loud, disorienting noise(that wouldn't apply to me, Akitsu, Musubi, or Kusano) and a cloud of smoke around them. We all took that as a cue to run.

* * *

><p>"Can't believe that actually worked…" I muttered, having finally caught my breath. We were currently on a train heading back north towards the Inn, and Kusano, thankfully, remained asleep.<p>

"What worked?" Musubi asked, obliviously.

"Misdirection and running away." I said. "It's two of the three things I'm really good at."

"What's the third thing?" Musubi asked.

"Violence." I answered with a shrug. "No, I'm probably not qualified to be a parent, but oh well. Blackstone turned out fine."

"Don't say that!" Musubi protested. "You're a great parent! I believe in you!"

"Well, that brings the total count to, what, three?" I muttered darkly. "You, Akitsu, and Matsu. Maybe not even Matsu, she seems too smart to actually trust me." There was a pregnant pause. "Wow, I think I need to see a therapist. I have no idea where that came from."

"Yume-sama says she's having a hard time seeing your emotions, that they're buried under a shroud." Musubi said quietly.

"That would be the work of the Shroud of Void." I said quietly. "It's sometimes a pain in the ass." On the other hand, it did just get us out of a pretty nasty fight. I probably would've been able to handle it, but I'd already shot someone today, and I didn't feel like doing it again.

The rest of the train ride was fairly quiet. Nobody really had anything to say.

* * *

><p>"We're home!" I announced as we walked in.<p>

"Ah, Dad, you're back!" Blackstone said in a tone that immediately let me know something was wrong. "Come here, there's someone you really need to talk to!"

"Please don't." Kagari said as I hurried in. "And why do you have a little girl with you?"

"She's my daughter now. I just adopted her." I answered flatly. "Now, what happened? Why is my presence requested?"

"This guy apparently has a double life!" Blackstone said, as though it were the funniest thing he'd ever heard. "And he thought 'hey, giant flying icecube, I should shoot that down with a _giant goddamn fireball_'. Lemme tell ya, I wasn't amused."

"...it took me two 14-hour shifts to build that damn thing." I quietly said, looking at Kagari(which might not be his real name). "Not only that, you shot it down with my only son inside of it."

"I get it, I fucked u- ow!" Kagari(?) stopped, rubbing his head. "Was that really necessary, Miya?"

"No cursing." Miya said, holding her ladle menacingly. "Not around children."

"Where did you come from?" I asked, looking around the room. She hadn't been in here until a second ago, when Kagari(really need to learn his real name) had cursed and paid the price.

"Not important." Blackstone said. "You were angry for the first time in two years! That's progress. You're finally showing emotion!"

"Yeah, I need to see a therapist about that." I muttered, looking off to the side. "Get that pesky 'emotion' stuff under control."

"There is something deeply wrong with you." Kagari said.

"Yes, well, who here almost killed my son? Just, show of hands." I deadpanned. "Now, is Kagari your real name, or is there something else we should call you?"

"I'd rather not sa-" Kagari said, pausing as I drew a sword from the Bag of Holding and rested the end on his shoulder.

"It isn't an option." I informed him. "Now, let's try this again: What is your real name?"

"Homura. Sekirei #06, Homura, the Flame Sekirei." he hurriedly said. "Please don't kill me."

"I'll try, but I make no promises." I told him with a shrug. "After all, you did almost kill my son."

"Dude, it was an accident!" Homura protested.

"_How do you accidentally throw an exploding fireball at a hovercraft?!_" Blackstone indignantly asked. "I mean, _I've_ worked with fire before, and lemme tell ya, throwing fireballs that explode is _hard_. Not the sort of thing you do _on accident_."

"My powers are hard to control, alright?" Homura defended. "It's been getting worse, recently, and I don't know why!"

"Don't worry, it's a common thing with boys your age." I teased, taking a few steps back. "Now, if you two can manage to not kill each other, I'm going to go put Kusano to bed. She's had a long day."

"Hey wait, does this mean you were telling the truth about being a miracle worker or whatever?" Homura asked.

"I'm not much of a liar." I answered him, leaving the room.

* * *

><p>Kusano was still asleep by dinnertime, and so we had to eat without her. But it turned out we'd have a guest, something I learned when a knock came on the door. Miya answered it, made a disappointed noise, and allowed someone in. I sighed, got up, and walked downstairs to investigate.<p>

"Oi! You must be that guy from the Botanical Garden!" Seo said, pointing at me.

"My name is David Alexander Anderson." I intoned. "Please, feel free to use it."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Seo dismissed. "I guess if Miya's letting you live here, you're not that bad."

"I'm not sure how to feel about that assessment." I muttered. "Anyways, why are you here?"

"Ah, I was friends with Takehito before he died." Seo said, rubbing the back of his head.

"He's a lazy slacker, and comes here for a free meal at least twice a month." Miya corrected.

"Such wonderful company you maintain, Miya." I deadpanned, before turning around. "Anyways, now that my curiosity has been sated, I've got things to do."

"Ah, but dinner is ready now." Miya informed me, already heading to the kitchen to put the food on plates.

* * *

><p>"Oh god no." Uzume muttered as she walked into the room. "What's wrong, Seo, spent all your money on booze again?"<p>

"Oh, don't act like you didn't miss me, sugartits." Seo leered.

I found my knife already in my hand, and who was I to deny its desire to nuzzle Seo's throat?

"Never, under any circumstances, call anyone that again." I whispered into his ear. "Do you understand me?"

Seo nodded very gently, afraid of accidentally cutting himself on my knife.

"Good boy." I said, pulling away the knife. "Now, do try your best to behave."

This guy reminded me of some idiot from three years ago… Ben Calhoun, I think it was. He was making a nuisance of himself to any and all women at the Autumn Festival, until I got tired of his shit and turned his skull concave with a pipe. Let's hope nothing like that happens with him. I like to pretend I'm slowly becoming a better person.

* * *

><p>As it turned out through the course of many crude sexual jokes on Seo's part and a migraine on my part, Seo would not, in fact, behave himself.<p>

"Goodbye, and good riddance." I muttered quietly as he left. "May you never return."

"Don't get your hopes up, bro." Uzume said, shaking her head. "He always returns."

* * *

><p><em>Kusano gets more character in the next chapter, which is a big one.<em>

_Fun fact! This chapter took two days to write!_


	7. Great Balls Of Fire

Kusano didn't wake up until the next day, right around breakfast time. But when she did wake up, she brought to bear an appetite that gave even Musubi pause for thought.

"Well, I suppose I don't have to worry about coaxing her into eating." I said quietly.

"Why is everyone you are associated with such a voracious eater?" Blackstone asked, looking at me weirdly. "Why am I the only one who doesn't need to eat much?"

"Because you're a reptile." I deadpanned. "Also, you're magical. The rules are different and nonsensical."

"Story of my life…" Uzume muttered. "Seems there's never a dull moment with you around, bro."

"That's a little overstated, but I can't quite disagree with that." I admitted.

* * *

><p>"Alright, everyone, I have two announcements to make." Miya said after breakfast. "First, I'll be gone until three in the afternoon today, visiting my husband's grave. You all will have to handle lunch on your own. Second, there will be an adjustment in lodgings." She pulled a whiteboard out of a closet, which had a map and a calendar drawn out on it. "As you can see, David, you are now paying for two rooms. Given that you have brought three more people with you, this is only fair."<p>

"I suppose it is." I admitted. "But there's more to it than that, isn't there."

"Indeed. From now on, there are to be only two people sleeping in a room at any given time." Miya decreed. "And Kusano shall sleep in my room."

"Nope." Blackstone said. "Fairly certain that's not a thing that'll happen."

"Only if Kusano wants to." I said moderately.

"Uh uh!" Kusano chimed in. "Ku-chan wants to sleep with Onii-chan!" She pointed at Blackstone, who smiled a bit.

"Well, that's settled." I said with a sigh. "So, what's with the calendar?"

"This is to determine who sleeps where and on which nights." Miya said.

"...that's a little dehumanizing, but okay." Blackstone muttered.

"Nobody in this room is human." I casually informed him. "Anyways, since arguing with you is futile, please go on ahead."

"Thank you." Miya said, nodding before she turned back to the whiteboard. "There will be a three-day rotation in order of winging. For the purposes of this schedule, Akitsu counts as being winged, and Yume does not count at all."

"Well, that's not _that_ unreasonable. Of course, my opinion here doesn't matter." I said with a shrug. "Anyone have any complaints?"

Musubi and Akitsu exchanged glances, then looked at Matsu.

"Matsu-tan helped make the schedule." the 3rd person hacker said, not looking up from her tablet. "She has no complaints."

"And to keep the days of the week stable, each Sunday it will be decided by David." Miya said, making me regret every choice that had led to this moment.

"Those'll also cycle through in order of winging." I hastily said, attempting to preserve a modicum of fairness. "Also, whose idea was that? Keeping the days of the week stable? I think only two people in this room keep track of those."

"It's Wednesday." everyone said as one. Well, not really everyone. Akitsu remained taciturn, but she was like that anyways.

"...I stand corrected." I quietly admitted.

* * *

><p>"Looks like Blackstone and Kusano are getting along well." I said, watching the two read a book together. Or, rather, Blackstone read a book out loud while Kusano sat on his lap and listened attentively. It was some sort of story, one I hadn't heard before.<p>

"That's good to hear." Miya said, standing behind me. I was no longer surprised by her sneakiness, and this time I even heard her coming.

"Indeed. It's always good when the children get along. It means they can entertain themselves, and don't require as much oversight." I admitted. "Which, admittedly, I'm not good at. Blackstone was fine because dragons are fairly low-maintenance."

"You underestimate your abilities, David." Miya said comfortingly. "You'll be fine. You're a good person."

"I really, really am not." I whispered. "I've done some awful things in my time…"

"Good people sometimes do bad things." Miya said sagely. "What matters is that you attempt to make up for that."

"...that actually helps a lot." I quietly admitted. "Thanks. If nothing else, it might help me sleep at night."

"I thought you didn't sleep." Miya pointed out.

"Figure of speech, Miya." I said with a sigh.

* * *

><p>The past few days went mostly smoothly, not much changing. The only change worth mentioning was that Blackstone had finally moved from watching the fabricators to playing with his little sister. Of course, Miya had a few objections to that…<p>

"Your children are a menace." Miya said, soaked to the bone.

"What'd they do this time?" I asked with a heavy sigh.

"Oh, nothing much. They simply thought it would be funny to put a bucket of water over my bedroom door." Miya complained.

"Pft. Amateurs." Uzume commented, looking over from the couch. She was watching TV. I was reading a book with Akitsu using my lap as a pillow. "Real pranks are bigger than that."

"Uzume…" Miya growled, the Hannya mask making a guest appearance.

"Hey, don't look at me! I didn't make 'em do it!" Uzume defended frantically, hiding from Miya's withering stare.

"Mm, I'm not entirely convinced." I said, stroking my chin. "You're a devious one, Uzume."

"Oh like you're one to talk, mister 'makes contracts with _souls_ as collateral!'" Uzume accused. "Anyways, I'm not responsible for this in any way! Let me watch TV in peace!"

* * *

><p>On sunday, the last day of March(I still think it was a stupid name for a month), Miya left to visit her husband's grave. We'd be on our own for lunch, and I'd sent Blackstone out to get some ingredients for a Texan-style meal. That meant cornbread and chili, not fried squirrel.<p>

In her absence, Miya had left chores to be done by us. Right now, Musubi and Kusano were attempting to water the grass, a task that would normally take ten, twenty minutes.

It had been a half hour, and they still weren't done with the front yard.

"Has David-tan tried putting the heat sink there instead?" Matsu asked, looking at my design. She'd been helping with my design process, and was a quick learner.

"Well, let's try that." I said, hitting a few keys. "That seems to be working better. It'll do twenty more before burning out."

"But it's magical, it shouldn't be burning out at all." Matsu said, scratching her head. "Can't David-tan put a thermodynamic spell in there to deal with the heat?"

"If it was custom-build stuff, yeah." I said with a shrug. "This is mass-production stuff. Not consumer grade, closer to mil-spec, but still mass produced. The proper spell for that would drive production time and expenses up a lot."

"Hm… Put a governor on it, and have that be consumer grade. Mil-spec can be more expensive." Matsu said with a shrug.

You might wonder what we were talking about. Simple, really: flying motorcycles. Using wind for levitation was more elegant and controlled, but fire gave a lot more bang for the buck, and magic energy wasn't exactly a common, inexhaustible resource. Thus, overheating was a major concern. We had to work with more mundane flavors of mythril, because the good stuff was a lot harder to make.

"I suppose that's an option." I admitted. "A max speed of 30m/s should be enough for consumer applications…"

"No civilian needs a vehicle faster than that." Matsu agreed. "People who do violence for a living? Sure. Not civilians."

"Alright, so, we can put the governor anywhere." I said, turning back to the giant display. "Do we put it somewhere hard to get to so civs can't mess with it, or do we put it somewhere easy to get to so it can be fixed easier in the event that it breaks?"

"Easy to get to." Matsu said. "More importantly, how are you supposed to brake?"

I considered this carefully. "We can't just use retrorockets, those'll scorch a careless rider. Maybe at the front…"

"That'll overheat the front engine." Matsu pointed out. "But-" We stopped, frozen in place, as we heard the front door open and three people walk in. Two of them sounded like Musubi and Kusano. The third one was unfamiliar. "Matsu needs to hide now."

She dashed out of the room like a startled rabbit, heading back to her sanctum(a hidden closet a few meters down the hall), her footsteps silenced by an amulet I'd made for her. I sighed and got up, Akitsu and I leaving the room to see who had come in.

First and foremost, she was soaked. Wearing a big, grey coat I think was called a haori, but her arms weren't through the sleeves. It had the Sekirei crest on one of the lapels. Beneath that, she was wearing some sort of black dress that came down to her midthigh. Most notably, she had grey hair, like Homura, and a much more subtle and reasonable bust than any other Sekirei I'd encountered for longer than a minute. Were it not for the telltale glow of a soul anchored in her chest and the Sekirei Crest on her haori, I could mistake her for a human. And, lastly, she looked like someone around her had been very careless with a garden hose.

"You must be Dave." she said, looking me over with half-lidded eyes, sizing me up. "Hm. Your stance is pretty confident, for a human."

"I suppose it is." I said, quirking an eyebrow. "I prefer David, as a general rule."

"Karasuba. I came to visit Musubi. We're old friends." Karasuba said, giving me a name to use. "Unfortunately, she's still a little scatterbrained, and ended up soaking me with her garden hose."

"That happens." I said with a sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose. "Well, would you like to stay for lunch? I was going to make chili and cornbread once Blackstone got back from the store with the ingredients."

"Blackstone? That some sort of domestic servant?" Karasuba asked.

"Well that's fairly racist." I quipped. "And no, he's my adopted son. It's a long story, and most of it is pretty boring."

"Racist? How is it- oh. He's black, isn't he." Karasuba guessed.

"He's black in the same sense that I'm white." I said with a shrug. "And that's actually a better simile than I thought, because aside from the color contrast, we look identical. See, I'm an albino, and he's a melanist. One of us has no pigment, and the other has a ton of it."

"Oh! Musubi just noticed, David and Karasuba-sama look a lot alike!" Musubi interjected.

"Hm… I can see that." Karasuba said, nodding and cupping her chin. "There's a bit of a height difference, but that's easily explained by difference in gender and race."

"I'm not sure if it is." I said, shrugging. "I mean, I don't think Sekirei really count as Japanese as far as ethnicity goes."

"We do." Karasuba said almost immediately. "We have the same facial structure, and the same general height distribution."

"I'm not sure if that's true or not, but I don't think asian women, or indeed human women in general, are so generously endowed as almost every Sekirei I've met." I said with a shrug. "Who knows, maybe I just know a bunch of outliers and normal Sekirei look normal. I wouldn't know."

"I take it the blindfold isn't a temporary thing?" Karasuba asked, examining it with curiosity.

"It is not." I summarized.

* * *

><p><em><strong>This next scene is from Karasuba's perspective<strong>_

Ah, Miya's inn. Haven't been in here since the housewarming party. She could've been a little more grateful for the dish I brought. Black pudding isn't easy to make. But the house itself is nice. Roomy, spacious, with the shogi walls and tatami mat flooring. Easy to burn down if I so wished. But nevermind all that.

This guy looks like he could be my brother. He certainly has more power circulating through him than he should, if he really is a worthless human. Maybe he isn't, and there's more to this world than I know. Doesn't matter. I can still take him in a fight, and that's what's important.

The one behind him. The woman whose name sounds like a sneeze. She'd be more of a challenge. She's the Scrap Number, and that puts her on a level equivalent with one of the First Five. Certainly enough to take on Kazehana or Mutsu. A bulimic puppy could take on Matsu. But regardless, she wouldn't be up to snuff against me. I'd still win, almost certainly.

I hate certainty. It's boring. But I suppose that's the problem with being the strongest still in the fight. Hopefully this brat can change that. Somehow. Not sure how. Maybe his 'powerful love' will power Musubi up, and she'll give me a good fight.

Pft. Power of love my alabaster asscheeks. Love doesn't make you a better fighter. Hate does. Love is a weakness. Hate? Hate is strength. Hate is power. Hate is-

"Lunch is ready!" David said from the kitchen, carrying a large pot of chili into the dining room.

Hate is something I'll set aside for right now. Anyone who feeds me is worthy of my respect.

* * *

><p>Blackstone, who looked exactly like David, but with inverted colors(He had green eyes, so does that mean David has red ones? He's an albino, so maybe.), sat across from me, a little blond girl sitting right next to him. They acted like siblings. Well, siblings that liked each other. I was told that they exist.<p>

"So what's fo- what the fuck is SHE doing here?!" some brunette bimbo said, walking into the room. She didn't seem like one of David's Sekirei; those were well behaved.

"Karasuba came here to visit Musubi, since apparently they know each other." David told her, looking directly at her. He must have some good hearing, maybe a kind of sight without eyes. "She's staying for lunch, as an apology for Musubi soaking her with the garden hose."

"Bro, do you know what she's done?!" the bimbo accused, pointing at me.

"Do you know what I've done?" he replied, crossing his arms. Oooh, nice. He's got a history. Might even be my kind of crazy. "Cause I find it difficult to believe she's worse than me. Now siddown and be civil. She's a guest, and you will treat her with respect. Got it?"

Holy shit. He had learned how to do Miya's hannya mask trick. That must be the power he held, that made him seem so powerful to my senses. It didn't seem to be affecting anyone else(I was immune, anyways), so maybe he knew precision better than Miya.

"Ah! I got it! I got it!" she said, cowering a bit. "You can stop now!"

He smiled, and released the mask. "Good. Now, have a seat. I'll get you a bowl."

"I heard yelling-" some grey haired pretty boy said as he walked into the room. "-and now I see why. What is SHE doing here?!"

"She is a friend of Musubi's, and is staying for lunch." David said with a sigh. "Be polite or I will set you on fire."

Heh. This kid has balls, I'll give him that. Seems the sort that would spit in my face as I killed them. I like that. Shows they've got spirit.

"Now, let's eat." he said cheerily.

* * *

><p>Well, there goes any hope of killing him. I can't anymore. I'm going to have to claim him as my personal chef. Maybe as a few other things. But chef first and foremost. Hopefully he can make a good black pudding.<p>

"Well, it seems everyone enjoyed their meal." Blackstone said with a hint of a smirk. "Guess it's time to wash the dishes."

"I got this." David said, rolling up the sleeves to his hoodie. His arms from the elbows down to his fingertips began to glow, and the dishes all floated up off the table. They began floating to the kitchen.

So he's not human. Humans can't do magic, not even Ashikabi. So, is he some sort of Sekirei pretending to be an Ashikabi, or is there something not even I know?

Furthermore, do I actually care? The answer is 'not really, no'. Not right now, anyways. The food has made me complacent.

"And just as I thought, the Shroud of Void applies to you." David said, nodding in my general direction.

Shroud of Void… I'm not sure what that is, but I'm suddenly regretting leaving my sword at headquarters. Why did I not bring that along? I really should've thought to.

"So she's not gonna remember this?" brunette asked, sounding hopeful.

"Oh, she will. She's just not reacting as strongly as she usually would." David said, dismissively.

"You know, it's rude to talk about someone in the third person when they're right there." I teased, quirking one of my eyebrows.

"My apologies." he said, his tone almost mocking. "Anyways, listen up: I'm not human. Nor am I Sekirei. I'm a wizard. Keep that under your hat, if you don't mind."

"What's in it for me?" I asked. I could kill all of them, even without my sword, so I had the superior bargaining potential.

"Let's make a deal. You keep the secret, and you owe me three favors, and in return I give you a magic sword." he offered.

It was a tempting offer. I'd have to know what the sword did before I accepted, but hey, sword. I like swords.

"What kind of sword, and what does it do?" I asked, leaning in.

"I have a lot of them, so you can take your pick. What sort of sword do you want?"

This kid. He knows how to play me like a violin. And strangely, I'm okay with that.

"I'll take an odachi." I told him with a shrug. "So, what can you put on that?"

"I think I have an odachi in my collection…" he muttered. "It's inert, so it won't rust or anything. Plus, it's stronger than any metal and can hold an edge like obsidian. As for magical properties… I think it comes with an enchanted sheath and ring, and it can teleport to either of those with a mere thought."

I blinked once. Twice. I think someone said something. Not sure. But I did jump across the table to tackle him, and try to claim him as my Ashikabi.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Return to David's perspective<strong>_

Aaand there we go. Things were going too well for a while now. However, I saw her coming the moment she decided to jump. Thus, I was able to get out of the way and get to my feet pretty quickly.

"Seems a little demonstration is in order." I said with a sigh, the aforementioned odachi barely hovering over Karasuba's neck. "Please, do attempt to restrain yourself."

"Hmph. Fine." Karasuba muttered. "Well, the sword does what you promised. I accept your terms."

"Wonderful. I'll give you the sword when you leave." I said, disappearing the sword into the Bag of Holding. "In the meantime, I don't trust you with sharp things."

"Oh? Don't trust me, after only one attempted kiss?" Karasuba teased, standing up.

"Frankly, no." I deadpanned. "No I do not. Seriously, why does this happen so often? What makes me so appealing? I thought I was the most unappealing person to live on this earth, unless you were really into sickly, pale, tall quasi-sociopaths."

"Bro, you keep calling yourself a sociopath, but I just don't see it." Uzume chimed in from across the table.

"Well, maybe it's all the killings." I proposed sarcastically. "It might be because I've killed so many people, I stopped keeping count!"

Incidentally, I'd like to inform you all that I'm not an idiot. I had placed a soundproofed bubble spell around Kusano and Blackstone. Blackstone has already heard all of my sins, but I'd rather Kusano not know _just_ yet.

I am a man of many sins, and 'omitting information when talking to children' is one of the least of those sins.

"Or, maybe, it's because not only were some of those cold-blooded killings, I also killed an old man who was trying to help me, and I also killed… buh. Never fucking mind. I don't want to talk about this anymore." I continued. I was tired now, my eyelids drooping. Not that anyone was really able to tell, with my blindfold. There's a reason I have the blindfold instead of just a spell: I don't want my eyes to be seen, because I don't want anyone to be able to read my emotions from them. If I did not show my eyes, I did not show as much weakness. And I prefer to be thought of as unpitiable.

"No, no, keep going. This is exciting me." Karasuba said, causing me to turn around and stare at her.

* * *

><p>"And don't ever come back, under pain of death!" I yelled, literally flinging the silver-haired psychopath out of the house. "Take your fucking sword, too!" I threw the odachi at her, keeping the ring and sheath for myself. The contract required that I give her a sword. It did not require that I not take it back.<p>

As a final 'fuck you', I expended one of the favors to create an unbreakable compulsion: she was not able to come within 3 meters of anyone who called the Izumo Inn home, unless they let her.

"Matsu-tan knew David-tan could be scary, but she underestimated him." Matsu commented, finally emerging from her little hidey hole.

"I am not someone to be fucked with when I'm in a bad mood." I ominously declared. "Incidentally, Karasuba is in some pretty deep shit now. I can expend those favors she owes me to impose unbreakable compulsions upon her."

I was currently seething with anger. Anger at the fact that people like her were allowed to exist in this world, that I was once just like her. Anger at the injustice she represented. I could feel the Shroud of Void shudder and warp under the strain of my raw emotion, something that hadn't happened before.

Hell, I was even twitching. That never happens.

"Agh! It burns!" Homura cried, before falling over. Well, looks like I have another problem to focus on that probably won't make me that mad.

Everyone was quick to his side, and his breath was coming in gasps.

"My power… it's out… of control…" Homura weakly sputtered. "I hate this… but… if you don't… wing me… I'll burn up… like gasoline…"

"This is just ridiculous…" I muttered. "Are you sure you want to be winged by me? I could try to stabilize you, or maybe just give you a clean death if that's what you really want."

"It's futile…" Homura said. "to fight… fate… just do it, you… son of a bitch."

"Well, if you're sure…" I said, leaning down, before pausing. "Go on, get. Go away. I don't need a fucking audience for this, ya goddamn perverts." I mean, yeah, I'd certainly want to watch if it was two other dudes, but I'm a rather private person. It feels weird for people to watch me.

Once everyone backed up to give me some elbow room, I created an illusory dome of smoke around me and Homura. I leaned in, closed my eyes, and kissed him.

The first thing that I noticed was that his body temperature was past 'feverish' and into 'how are you not dead'. He must've been serious about his power being uncontrollable; it felt like he was burning himself to death from the inside out. Not a pleasant way to die, incidentally.

The next thing I noticed was that his conscious mind was overridden by instinct and muscle memory, and that he had a lot of practice kissing. He must've tried dozens of women, trying to find an Ashikabi.

And instead of a woman, he got a demisexual 16 year old boy who occasionally murders people for fun and profit. He must be choking on the irony right about now. Well, either that or my tongue. Yeah, that's probably my tongue he's choking on.

He pushed me away forcefully, gasping for air. He was no longer on fire inside, thank god, and seems to have acquired a power boost.

"What happened?" Uzume asked, the illusory smoke clearing quickly.

"Dude! Not cool!" Homura indignantly shouted. "I asked you to wing me! That means a simple kiss, not shoving your tongue down my throat!"

"I don't do things by half, Homura." I informed him, smirking a bit. "Besides, we both got what we wanted, right? You got to live and you got your power under control, and I got to make out with the hot host."

Matsu began giggling quietly, and I picked up a distinctly sexual thought pattern coming from her. Musubi seemed confused, and Uzume, who I was able to actually see, looked proud of her fellow non-heterosexual.

"Guh. I need mouthwash." Homura said, wiping at his mouth as he got up.

"Relax, straightboy. You'll be fine." I told him, standing up on my own. I knew he'd refuse my offer to help him up. "It's just a little saliva."

"That, and a few bits of chili and cornbread." Homura grumbled as he walked off. "I'm going to be brushing my teeth for hours after that!"

* * *

><p>"I'm back." Miya announced. "What's broken?"<p>

"Miya, you were gone for six hours." I deadpanned from my position on the couch. Akitsu was resting her head in my lap, and I was reading a book. Uzume occasionally gave me a weird glance. "Do you really not trust any of us?"

"No." Miya casually admitted as she slipped off her geta(oh lord how I hated those fucking shoes) and walked inside. "And I notice you didn't answer my question."

"The psychopath visited, got screwed over in a contract, then got thrown out." Uzume listed, tired of me and Miya arguing while she was trying to play games. "Afterwards, something I don't pretend to understand happened, and Bro winged Homura." She sighed, before continuing. "I swear, you two argue like a married couple."

A dual hannya mask from both sides caused Uzume to panic, tossing the controller and curl up into the fetal position, gently rocking back and forth. Then Miya and I simultaneously realized what we were doing, and the masks disappeared. Miya blushed slightly, and looked off elsewhere. I ran the fingers of my free hand through Akitsu's hair, a universally recognized sign of "Sorry, I'm taken".

* * *

><p>That evening, I went outside to look at the sky. I was still on edge, and needed to calm down a bit. I figured that a blank expanse of nothingness would help.<p>

It's amazing how much the Void comforts me. At first I hated it, but now, it seemed like my best friend. It's almost reassuring to know that, in the grand scheme of things, nothing really matters that much.

It was also reassuring that Akitsu was very determined to spend as much of Sunday night asleep on or around me, and was currently sitting in my lap with my arms around her waist, beginning to nod off.

Evening became night. I managed to avoid incurring any additional company, and Akitsu was fully asleep. And the sky remained as it was: empty. Until somehow, a star shined brightly through the light pollution. And another. And another. Stars began popping through the cloudy, murky night sky, shining down upon me. I knew these stars, I knew all the constellations, and to actually see them in the sky?

That was worth taking off my blindfold to see them truly. And when I did so, I heard a strange, otherworldly voice.

"Hello, one with the Void. We are watching, and wish to speak with you. For this, we shall give you a boon."

I was contemplating what that meant when I fell backwards and lost consciousness.

* * *

><p>I stood in an empty, vaguely blue void. Breaking the emptiness were thirteen figures. A ram, a bull, two twins, a crab, a lion, a maiden, a set of scales, a scorpion, an archer, a goat, a water-bearer, and a fish. The Western Zodiac, in essence.<p>

The Archer spoke first. "Welcome, David Anderson. I do hope you enjoyed my gift."

"I'm afraid you'll have to tell me what that is." I admitted. "I'm very confused right now."

"You have intrinsic knowledge of how every object travels through space and often use it for projectile attacks." the Ram said impatiently. "Where do you think that came from?"

Oh.

"You might be wondering why someone born under Aries' sign would have my gift." the Archer continued.

"Actually, I never wondered that." I admitted. "I don't look a gift horse in the mouth."

"This is why we didn't mind you stealing him." one of the Twins said. "No curiosity at all, just a murderous brute." the other one agreed.

"Look, everyone calm down. Let Sagittarius explain." the Maiden insisted.

"Okay, okay… So, you were born with the sun in Aries and the moon in Gemini, but you have blessings from neither because of your fated association with void." the Archer explained. "So, because of a strange association I have with void, you received my gift instead."

"And we've finally noticed that, so we're cutting you a deal." the Ram said, huffing a bit. "Every one of us will give you a minor gift in exchange for building a shrine to us, and we will give you tasks to carry out that will improve your gift. Since Gemini and I were your birthrights, the gifts from us will be a bit better."

"...why?" I asked, very confused. "What possible motivation would you have to do this? What are you getting out of this?"

"Can I tell him? Can I just fucking tell him?" the Scorpion asked, waving around a giant pincer.

"No you goddamn may not, Scorpio." the Water-Bearer said indignantly. "We are not allowed to tell him a cockwrangling thing."

"Oh for fuck's sake, will all of you just SHUT, the FUCK, UP?" the Crab snapped. "Look, kid, things are going on. Big things. Potentially world-ending things. We really don't want the world to end, because it makes us feel less lonely. So, we're piling power onto you while simultaneously making sure you're worthy of it."

"Put all your eggs in one basket, then watch that basket carefully." the Lion said sagely.

"I haven't said anything yet, and I feel like I should." the Goat added thoughtfully.

Everyone took a moment to look at him, and then we all decided, as one, to ignore him.

"So, wait, what exactly do you mean by 'gifts'?" I asked. "Like, actual tangible items?"

"No, no, no. Powers. Abilities." the Ram clarified. "Right now, the only gift you have is from Sagittarius, and that's one of his better ones. He won't be upgrading that anytime soon. My first gift to you is being fireproof."

"So that means I can set myself on fire with no consequence?" I asked, admittedly a little happy about that.

"Well, you'll be a little warm, but otherwise you'll be fine." the Ram said. "Your hair, however, will still burn off, leaving you smelling like ass for a while."

"But you're a smart boy, and have an automagic cleaning amulet." the Bull commented. "Convenience is underrated."

I blinked, and sighed.

"Can we, maybe, I dunno, trim down the attendance list for next time?" I asked. "So far, only four of you have said anything useful. The Scales hasn't said anything, and I'm starting to think maybe they can't."

"I can. I just don't." the Scales said in a tinny voice.

"Great. I'm glad you contributed that." I said, sarcasm dripping from my voice. "Can… can everyone not named Aries, Gemini, Cancer, or Sagittarius just leave? Is that a thing that can happen?"

In an instant, I was alone with the Ram, Twins, Crab, and Archer.

"So why'm I still here?" the Twins asked as one.

"You're his moon sign, idiot." the Crab huffed, annoyed. "And I'm here because I'm Blackstone's sun sign. That, and I'm not an annoying idiot."

"Anyways, back to the central point." the Ram said, trying to actually get something done here. "You are now immune to fire, asphyxiation and or drowning, you don't need to eat, can't be poisoned, etcetera. You are basically unable to be harmed by anything other than overt violence."

"You're also able to change aspects of your appearance beyond the whole biological manipulation thing." the Twins added. "In a minor way, that could be accomplished in the same time with makeup and hairdressing, but it isn't nothing."

"My gift is just improved grip strength." the Crab said. "Plus a resistance to minor scrapes and cuts."

"That, and being a moody asshole." the Archer quietly appended.

"I'm afraid I've already got that." I said. "Why are my emotions coming back to me now?"

"Perhaps- and this is just a theory- you have emotion because now there are people who truly care for you?" the Ram sardonically postulated.

"Oh? Are you saying that my parents and my son didn't care for me?" I asked, my tone scathing. "If so, say it louder, say it directly."

"They cared for you, yeah." the Ram said, sounding like that was an admission or concession. "But your parents weren't very good at expressing it. You spent almost all of your time in your room, only coming out to get food and materials to work with. And they never really asked 'Hey, son, whatcha doin? Want some help?', because they figured a hands-off approach was the best way. Hell, if anything, the one who had the most impact raising you was Apollo."

"Ah, the one so often called Gemini." the Twins said. "The one who only bears me as a moon sign, and whose sun sign is actually Libra. That douchebag."

"It amuses me to know that others consider my sibling to be a douchebag." I said with a chuckle. "Now, what was that about them having the most impact on my development?"

"Apollo treated you as an equal." the Archer dryly stated. "At first, he tried to assert dominance because of his age, but he discovered quickly that even as a newborn, you were not to be trifled with. So he was more cautious. He taught you what he knew, tried to ingratiate himself to you."

"That didn't work." I said flatly. "I've shot him multiple times, some of which would have been lethal were it not for his regenerating capacity."

"True, but he still taught you much." the Archer pointed out. "Artemis, on the other hand, only really became apparent when you were 10 or so. And all she taught you was how to cook."

"She taught me well, though." I admitted. "I actually liked her."

"Of course you did, girl was eager to please." the Twins commented. "She was the condensation of all the pleasantness that was mixed into Apollo Prime, before their soul awakened and became the split thing that it is now. Apollo Beta got the shit that Artemis didn't take, and was thus an absolutely shitty person."

"Ye- wait." Now? Present tense? They're dead. The only present tense would be for the effects they've had and perhaps the condition of their corpses. "There's something you aren't telling me."

"We do have limits." the Crab admitted. "Power comes with a price, and the price we pay is adherence to such a strict set of rules that we aren't truly people."

"Rather, we are forces with a face attached." the Ram clarified. "As are all of the greater powers in this world. It's the mortals who have that thing called 'freedom of choice'. Even I, the celestial manifestation of drive and individualism, am no more than a soulless automaton, dispensing power and favors where my programming dictates."

"So, basically, we are incapable of answering your questions." the Archer said. "We are also incapable of maintaining the conversation past this point, so good night."

"Wait, wh-" And then, everything went black.

* * *

><p><em>Author's notes!<em>

_This is a fucking _long_ chapter, by my standards. Or, well, the standards I've set for this fic. I used to do 20 page chapters for my old fics(which I have not posted), but I set the limit at 10 when I started Little Birds to try and get into a schedule I knew I could work with._

_On the other hand, it was better for me to put the five-page scene with the Zodiac in this one, since it tied in with the events going on here. That, and pacing. I was wondering when the hell I would squeeze this scene in. Then, I realized, the scene is ultimately about the stars in the sky. When is a better time than a chapter already titled Great Balls Of Fire?_

_Anyways, this chapter is named as such for a multitude of reasons: 1) stars are giant balls of nuclear flame, 2) it's a very southern thing to say when shocked, and David receives many shocks this time around; 3) Homura has fire powers and is a male Sekirei. Assuming that the trend for female Sekirei to be generously proportioned also applies to male Sekirei… well, you can probably piece together the dirty joke from here._

_If not, it's a reference to Homura's testicles which are potentially larger than normal._

_Unrelated to any of this: I'm intrigued by Karasuba's character. She paints an interesting contrast to David, and indeed, if their positions had been switched, they'd probably also have switched personalities. Hm… that would make for a cool omake. Scuse me while I go write that._


	8. Thicker Than Water

I had a bird's eye view of the scene. I was running for my life, bleeding from a gut wound, and being pursued by a woman who at first glance looked like Artemis, but was… different, somehow. She did not move as gracefully, was not as tall, and had a more defined figure.

Still shooting hypersonic jets of water at me, though. No wonder I had a gut wound; there are limits to what I can dodge, after all.

My pathfinder sense told me where this would happen. My connection to the stars told me when this would happen: Wednesday, at high noon.

* * *

><p>I awoke to the sensation of ice water being splashed over my head. My blindfold clung to my face, as did my hair, and I took a brief moment to shake the excess water from my hair.<p>

"What happened?" Blackstone asked, very concerned. "I thought you were insomniac."

"So did I." I replied, using a bit of magic to dry my face. "What time is it?"

"Wrong question." Uzume said immediately, disinterestedly reading a book.

"What day is it?" I asked.

"Monday." Blackstone said. "You were actually only out for, like, ten or so hours."

"Did you dream about anything?" Uzume asked, not looking up from her book.

"Well, first I had some weird dream quest involving the constellations of the Western Zodiac." I began by saying. "By the way, remind me to set myself on fire later, I need to test something. Lessee, after that, I was shown a vision. Looked like my sister. She was shooting stone-cracking jets of water at me, and I was bleeding from a gut wound."

"That sounds more like Uncle Apollo than Aunt Artemis…" Blackstone murmured.

"You do realize that it could just be a dream, right?" Uzume dryly reminded us. "I mean, your family did die pretty recently, so maybe you're just dreaming about them."

"Hey, hey Uzume." I said, my tone childish and mocking. "What's my title? When I introduced myself, what title did I give myself?"

"The Blind Se-"

"The Blind Seer!" I confirmed loudly. "I have visions of the future! What happened in that vision will happen if I don't act to prevent it!"

I'm not sure how my train of thought got to this station, but I suddenly realized that I had never put my blindfold back on.

"Akitsu, did you put my blindfold back on me when you woke up?" I asked, looking at her.

"Yes." the taciturn ice maiden answered. "I did not see your eyes, however."

I didn't bother answering her with words, instead using a hug to communicate my affection. That had been a concern. I did not want anyone to see my eyes, even when I was asleep.

Eyes are the windows to the soul, after all, and my soul was not particularly pleasant.

"Guess that's how you earn his trust." Uzume commented, turning a page. "Having the chance to look at his eyes, and not taking it."

"Right in one." Blackstone said, standing up. "His whole 'concealing his eyes' thing is pretty recent. It happened right around when he started getting visions."

"What's been causing those?" Uzume asked, finally looking up from her book.

"Nobody knows." Blackstone and I answered as one.

* * *

><p>"Hey, uh, sorry about yesterday." Homura said, after breakfast. I'd just finished drying the dishes and putting them away(magic makes mundane tasks like this <em>so<em> much easier).

"What do you- oh." I paused, realizing what he was talking about. "Eh. Don't worry about it. You're a heterosexual male, you're more than entitled to be uncomfortable when some weird pale kid shoves his tongue down your throat while you're dying a painful death."

"Still, I kinda freaked out." Homura continued.

"Also a reasonable reaction." I assured him. "Lemme tell ya somethin, friend. I'm no saint, and because of what I've done in my time, I can forgive a lot of stuff. You didn't take a swing at me, so you handled it better than I was honestly expecting."

I did, admittedly, expect him to set me on fire or something. My clothes are fireproof, so it wouldn't have hurt as much as it might otherwise, but I was still expecting that.

"Actually, I have a favor I need to ask of you." I continued, sticking out my right hand. "Try to set my hand on fire."

"Uh…" Homura murmured, taken aback and rather confused.

"Just do it. Burn my hand." I ordered.

He immediately complied, wreathing my outstretched hand in flames. I wasn't feeling anything other than mildly warm from the heat of the flames, and sighed as I signalled for Homura to stop the fire.

"Why did you want me to do that?" Homura asked, examining my unburnt hand.

"I wanted to see if I really was fireproof." I said with a shrug. "Seems I am."

"Okay, you know that thing you do where your answers just raise more questions?" Homura prompted. "Stop doing that. It's giving me a migraine."

"But being cryptic and confusing is half the fun of being a magician." I whined, pouting a bit.

"...never make that face again." Homura demanded, before walking off.

Heh. Poor fool. He's already in my clutches, he just can't see yet.

* * *

><p>"She seems to be learning quickly." Blackstone muttered, watching Musubi and Miya spar.<p>

"Very." I agreed. "If she keeps up, the bots as they are won't help her learn anymore."

"So of course you're going to beef them up." Blackstone sighed. He looked over at Kusano, who was blissfully unaware, and drawing a picture. She'd been learning quickly from Blackstone how to draw, and her art was beyond what most 8 year olds could do.

"I want everyone to be ready." I said with a nod. "I have no idea how combat-ready Homura is, and I intend to find out today."

"I'm right here, you can just ask me." Homura grumbled from his seat a meter over. "And yeah, I can fight. Since the whole reason for my fake name was that I put on a disguise, go out, and try to keep the unwinged Sekirei from meeting a bad fate."

"Meaning he shoots fireballs at suspicious things." Akitsu said, completely straightfaced. Everyone turned to look at her for a moment.

"Someone commission a plaque." Blackstone ordered. "I think that's the first time she's made a joke in her entire life."

"And it was actually funny!" Uzume added, not looking away from the spar.

"I'd debate the 'funny' part, but I don't wanna be an asshole." Homura muttered, before taking a ladle to the forehead. "Ow! Miya, quit it! That hurts!"

"That's a pretty impressive shot to make." I said appreciatively. "Good shot, Miya!" I said, louder, and received a curt thanks in response.

* * *

><p>"Okay, so once you have the right general area, you can maneuver intuitively." I said, watching as Matsu attempted to learn how to use the crystal ball. "Try doing that now."<p>

The viewport shifted around, rotating about three different axes, and Matsu clutched her head as it all ground to a halt.

"Urf." she groaned as the viewport winked out. "Matsu can't do it anymore. It's too much."

I handed her a bottle of painkiller potion, which Blackstone had brewed up in his secretive bunker. I had no idea how potioneering worked, but I trusted Blackstone to know his stuff.

"Thank you…" Matsu muttered gratefully as she downed the potion. "Matsu-tan wants to see David-tan try to use that thing."

In response, I tapped the crystal ball and focused intently. It then showed a brilliant starscape, as seen outside of the atmosphere, with the Earth blocking the Sun.

"Oh my god, it's full of stars!" Matsu said.

"Really? 2001?" I asked, crossing my arms. "I wasn't expecting that."

"Matsu-tan can read English fluently." Matsu informed me.

"As can I." Akitsu chimed in. "Along with Korean, Russian, and Chinese."

I rolled my shoulders a bit, and managed to conceal my blush with Gemini's gift. I, much like many Chromata, have a bit of a language kink.

"Oh? Is something wrong, David-tan?" Matsu asked, noticing my unease. "Ufufufufu… does David-tan like languages?"

"...maybe…" I said in the quietest voice I could manage while still being audible.

"Does this excite you?" Akitsu asked, in Russian. I kinda melted and lost control of my face there.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Ku-chan, wanna learn something cool?" I asked, sticking my head into the living room.<p>

Kusano considered this, before nodding and getting up. "Ku-chan wants to learn!"

"Alright, come with me." I said, moving towards the basement.

* * *

><p>"...and that's what the saltpeter is for." I concluded, setting down the marker. "So, let's see how well this works."<p>

Kusano put the goggles over her eyes, and hid behind the makeshift barricade. I was a little nervous here too. See, my power only applies to predicting ballistic trajectories. Rockets are not ballistic. I have no idea what this is going to do.

Well, I guess I do. It's going to make a bunch of smoke and fly into the wall. I just have no idea where. Which, since I was used to knowing exactly that, I'm kinda unnerved by.

Nevermind that. My daughter and I just made a rocket, and I'm about to light it up to see what happens. Let's do this shit.

* * *

><p>"Okay," Blackstone said, coughing and setting aside the fire extinguisher. "What have we all learned here?"<p>

"No rockets inside!" Kusano dutifully said.

"I'm a reckless idiot." I admitted.

"Both true." Blackstone said with a nod. "If you're teaching Kusano volatile chemistry, do that outside."

"What are you three doing?" Miya asked, opening the basement door and walking down the stairs.

"Science." Blackstone and Kusano said as one. "We learned some valuable things today." Blackstone continued. "Like 'no indoor rocket science'."

"And 'Dad is a reckless idiot'." I added.

"I do believe we've known that for some time, David." Miya said, covering her mouth with her sleeve to conceal her giggling.

"Good lord, you two bicker like a married couple." Blackstone said, leaning against the wall. "Do us all a favor and just skip the stupid sexual tension and kiss already."

Blackstone found himself confronted by the dreaded dual Hannya glare, but remained undaunted. He must have some sort of protection from it, possibly in the form of an amulet. Of course, he wasn't immune to mundane fear produced by the presence of Miya's katana or my carbine, and quietly curled up into a ball on the floor.

The weapons were sheathed, and the adults went on their merry little way with an 8 year old in tow.

If I'm completely honest with myself, I don't have any problem with the idea of Miya and I together, aside from 'she's a widow and apparently still grieving for her husband', which kinda makes me feel like an asshole. So, instead, I dismiss that part of my mind and let myself focus on the people who aren't emotionally unavailable.

* * *

><p>"Hey, bro, c'mere for a few minutes, I need your help. And, uh, I guess bring Akitsu with you." Uzume called from across the hall.<p>

"Does she still think you're blind?" Matsu asked, looking up from the terminal's screen.

"I haven't disabused her of the notion, no." I casually admitted.

"I resent being treated as a seeing eye dog." Akitsu muttered under her breath. In response, I wrapped an arm around her shoulder and hugged her closer, taking the opportunity to place a kiss on her cheek.

"If you don't feel like coming with me, I can inform Uzume of my ocular capacity." I assured her. "I don't actually have any reason for concealing it from her, aside from seeing how long I can."

Akitsu's face warmed up a bit, and she shook her head. "I will come with you." she resolved.

* * *

><p>"You wanted to see us?" I asked, walking into Uzume's room.<p>

"Yeah, I was hoping to take some measurements so I could make better outfits for you guys." Uzume said, looking up from some sort of sketchbook. "For that, I'll need you to take off your jacket. It's spring and we're indoors, so I shouldn't have to ask, but…"

"I'm from a much warmer place than this." I admitted, before unzipping the front of my jacket.

"So that's what color your shirt is…" Uzume muttered to herself as I did so. Thinking back, I guess I never took off my jacket in front of anyone. I even slept in the damn thing. "Whoa. Bro, how did we never know?"

What had prompted this reaction? Well, I removed my jacket, leaving my torso covered by a simple black t-shirt. She was finally able to see my arms between my wrists and biceps, and… well, I have a military upbringing. That promotes a little personal fitness, you know?

Akitsu's mind flashed with interest and curiosity, and she prodded my arm a bit, feeling the muscle that was there. I frowned a bit, and withdrew my arm slightly. While I was normally a fairly affectionate person, I did not particularly enjoy being poked and prodded.

"Okay, quit staring and make with the measuring." I said, once more calling on Gemini's gift to hide my blush.

"Well, now half of my designs won't work." Uzume admitted, standing up regardless and grabbing a tape measure. "I'd thought you were a lot less ripped than that."

"I'm not ripped." I insisted, crossing my arms. "I'm just in shape."

"A hot shape." Akitsu quietly amended.

"I mean, I'm a lesbian and I can _still_ see the appeal." Uzume said appreciatively. "Just… damn."

"You realize that any outfit you make for me will have long sleeves as a requirement, correct?" I pointed out. "I really do not like exposing myself like this; it just means more skin that'll burn in the sunlight."

"Aw, c'mon, bro, work with me here!" Uzume pleaded. "It's such a shame to let guns like those stay hidden!"

I began searching through the pockets in my pants, which held nothing.

"Sorry, Uzume." I said, pulling my empty hands out of my pockets and displaying them. "I couldn't find any fucks to give."

"Fine." Uzume relented. "I'll just have to make the sleeves really form-fitting, then."

"No spandex, either." I told her.

"You're killing me, bro." Uzume said, shaking her head. "Killing me."

She then began to take my measurements, and I held still for her.

"Alright, that should about do it…" Uzume said, stepping back. "Everything else can be adjusted later on. Akitsu, maybe you wanna look over the designs?"

Akitsu nodded, and took the sketchbook from Uzume. The two of us began to look over the designs, wordlessly analyzing them. To Uzume's credit, she was a skilled sketch artist, and even better at outfit design. To her detriment, she seems to think we enjoy exposing large portions of our vulnerable skin.

Well, okay, some of us might, but I personally would cover every inch of my body if it weren't for the fact that it would attract attention beyond the Shroud's ability to block. Screw 'it's a shame to hide a face like that', I don't like getting sunburns every time I go outside for more than five minutes at a time like a goddamn vampire.

Akitsu handed the sketchbook back to Uzume, who looked a little confused.

"Why were you looking at the designs, bro?" Uzume asked. "You can't actually see them, can you?"

"I'm not actually blind, Uzume." I admitted. "I'm a wizard, and if you think a little thing like a blindfold'll keep me from seeing, you got another thing coming."

"I… wow, I had no idea." Uzume said, cupping her chin thoughtfully. "Does this mean you have a wider field of view than normal?"

"Only a little." I admitted. "It's hard to deal with, since I do have to interface this thing with my eyes."

"So, all those times I talked to you naked…" Uzume realized.

"I could see you, yes." I admitted. "Also, that happened only once." That incident was when I had asked Uzume to make Musubi something to sleep in.

Akitsu released a quiet sigh of relief, and stepped a little closer to me. I could now feel her ample chest pressing against my arm.

"Anyways, is that all you needed?" I asked, remembering that I had things to do.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, that's about i-" Uzume got out, before being cut off by Miya knocking on the door.

"David, I need you to go to the store and pick up ingredients for dinner." Miya said, handing me a list and a handful of bills.

"Miya, don't you remember what happened last time you sent me out for groceries?" I asked, turning to face her and crossing my arms. "I ended up bringing home a new tenant and someone almost got murdered."

"That was one time." Miya insisted.

"No, no it wasn't." I argued. "Every time I leave the house, something bad happens. Someone gets shot at, and sometimes people die. I'm not leaving, come hell or high water."

* * *

><p>"I will get the vegetables." Akitsu said, holding her own copy of the list. She walked off to the other side of the grocery store, and I began searching for the items Miya had tasked me with buying.<p>

Of course, I got the half of the list that meant I had to leave the store and go to the one across the street because this one didn't have any of these items. I was beginning to regret leaving my coat at home, because 1) it was cold, and 2) it was noon on Wednesday, and everything lethal I owned was in the Bag of Holding, which I'd sewn into the pocket.

"You there! Halt!" I heard a voice behind me shout. It was a feminine voice, using an archaic speech pattern. Not having many other options, I froze and turned around. Aaaand it was the Artemis look-alike. Hell, she even talked like my sister. "Speak your name, scoundrel!"

"My true name is David Alexander Anderson. I have many titles." I answered in a formal tone. "I have given you my name, please give me yours."

I felt the Shroud of Void stretch and encompass the unnamed-Artemis look-alike. The two of us were now imperceptible to outside observers, and would go unnoticed. That meant that we could say whatever the hell we wanted, and nobody would notice or care.

"I am Sekirei Number 09, Tsukiumi." she said, a little surprised by my capacity to be polite. "My title is The Water Sekirei."

"What business compels you to seek me out?" I asked, crossing my arms. I was thankful for my inability to burn, because otherwise I would be a bright cherry red right now. "And if you do not mind, I do have business of my own to conduct right now. Namely, grocery shopping."

I began walking towards the crosswalk, and waited for the light to change. Tsukiumi sighed, and followed close behind me.

"I sought you out because I have seen you in my dreams." she quietly admitted. "You are supposed to be my Ashikabi."

"Oh for fuck's sake." I groaned, tilting my head back. "This happens every time I leave the house!"

Well, since I came to Tokyo, anyways. There had been four- now five- occasions where I left the house. The first one was at the vision of Akitsu, and led to her silently swearing eternal loyalty to me. The second one was to get my shit from Austin, and involved me shooting Doc Bell in the chest and eye. The third was a grocery trip that ended in me winging Musubi and picking up an as of yet unfulfilled promise, and the fourth was an expedition with the express purpose of rescuing Kusano from the jungle. Kusano, as a side statement, remains unwinged. I refuse to kiss my 8 year old daughter in a way that would activate a magic bond of romantic/sexual love. That is really, really creepy, and I ain't doin' it.

"I just can't step outside to buy goddamn groceries," I continued, crossing the street. "without something like this happening! What the hell?! Was I the actual devil in a past life, and now I'm paying that off?"

"I resent that remark," Tsukiumi began, following closely behind me. "although it is refreshing to meet an Ashikabi who is not so greedy for more Sekirei."

"Yeah, turns out having a bunch of people who rely on me for their emotional health and stability? Not exactly fun." I grumbled. "I guess you came to get your wings, or whatever. I'm not saying I won't give them to you, but keep in mind that you look and sound like my recently-dead sister."

"I did not, in point of fact, seek you out to be winged." Tsukiumi said. "I sought you out in order to kill you."

I immediately went down into a shoulder roll, and came up in a hopping motion, turning to face Tsukiumi while my hands instinctively reached for weapons I didn't have with me. When I realized this, I settled into a defensive stance.

"I'm not going to!" Tsukiumi hurriedly assured me. "I have… calmed, considerably. I do not know why. I was worried you would violate me, but now… now I find I no longer worry. It is odd."

"Oh." I said, relaxing a tad. She sounded sincere, and the Shroud still accepted her. "Magic is weird like that." I said helplessly.

"Magic? There is no such thing." Tsukiumi asserted.

"Explain your powers, then." I prompted. "Without magic... how do your powers work? How do they do what they do?"

Tsukiumi considered this, and continued to consider this as she followed me around the store. Apparently, Miya required more incense, and a large bag of peppermints.

Follow me here, because I'm getting to a point: Blackstone had added a small modification to my blindfold that translated Japanese Kanji. Since I actually spoke Japanese, it was easier for him to simply translate the Kanji, Hiragana, and Katakana(why, Japan?! Why must you have _three_ written scripts?!) into the corresponding roman letters that made the same sounds. It was a beefy enchantment, nonetheless, and it picked the intended pronunciation of each Kanji based on the author's intent.

That allowed me to read Matsu's report on the Sekirei, and had revealed to me a very interesting fact: Sekirei are allergic to peppermint, which induces a mild hallucinogenic effect when inhaled or consumed. Peppermint incense, peppermint soap; anything with actual peppermint oil in it, including its vaporized form, would get a Sekirei high as a kite.

If you don't get it, Miya is essentially asking me to buy her drugs. It was a little weird, and she probably didn't know I knew about the qualities of peppermints, otherwise she would've had someone else get them. I'm guessing, based on the fact that I've never smelled peppermint around her, that she's resorting to it to calm her nerves. Also, given that a close relative to the peppermint plant(_salvia divinorum_, or seer's sage) has a hallucinogenic effect on humans, and another close relative(catnip) has one on cats, it's not hard to divine that peppermint had a calming effect, and Miya will use it for such after a long day.

Turns out the kindly widowed landlady was also a goddamned stoner. It was actually more surprising than being ridiculously powerful.

Tsukiumi, meanwhile, still hadn't come up with an answer, even after I had paid for everything and was walking to the exit.

"Aha! I have an answer!" Tsukiumi finally said, pointing a finger upwards as we left.

"Do tell." I insisted, looking at her curiously.

"I don't actually." Tsukiumi admitted, deflating. "But that does not mean there isn't one!"

I rolled my eyes under the blindfold, and made my way to the crosswalk.

Akitsu didn't take much longer with the vegetables, and met us just outside the door.

"Who is she?" Akitsu quietly asked, looking at Tsukiumi.

"I am Number 09, Tsukiumi, the Water Sekirei!" Tsukiumi declared.

"The one from the vision, who looks like my sister." I clarified. "So far, my vision has been quite inaccurate."

"What did this vision reveal?" Tsukiumi asked, turning back around to face me.

"Uh, it revealed me running for my life while you tried to kill me." I deadpanned. "Gotta say, I wasn't exactly enthusiastic about meeting you."

Tsukiumi didn't really have anything to say to that, and we all performed the unenviable task of walking home in Tokyo at noon on a wednesday.

* * *

><p>"We're back!" I announced, opening the door. "And I was right!"<p>

"Oh? Right about what?" Miya asked from the living room, where she sat watching TV with Kusano. "I'm not entirely sure what you mean."

"Who are you talking to?" Tsukiumi asked, looking at me strangely.

"The landlady, Asama Miya." I answered, walking towards the kitchen. "I suppose she gets to give you the tour."

Meanwhile, I would be putting groceries away, and probably putting the peppermints right next to Miya's bedroom door. If I ever found out where the hell it was. For a place I've lived in for a month, I really don't know my way around this place. Probably because I spend a solid three quarters of my time in my room.

* * *

><p>What I was not prepared for, nor would I ever truly be prepared for, was the meeting of Musubi and Tsukiumi. It started innocuously enough, but then again a lot of tragedies do.<p>

"So… big…" Tsukiumi said, not quite looking Musubi in the eye. "I shall not lose to you, however!"

"Huh?" Musubi asked, scratching her head in confusion. "Oh! Do you want to have a spar?"

"Musubi, no sparring in the house." Matsu admonished, watching over Kusano's computer lesson. "Remember what happened last time?"

"Oh, right." Musubi said, thumping her fist into her palm in remembrance. "Should we go outside?"

"No, you insolent wretch, I was not challenging you to a contest of arms!" Tsukiumi angrily shouted.

Oh no, this isn't going to end well.

"Then what do you mean?" Musubi asked, thoroughly confused.

"Tsuki-tan seems to think we're competing for David-tan's heart." Matsu answered. "Which isn't true. David-tan is polyamorous."

"Regardless, there can only be one true wife!" Tsukiumi declared. "The rest are concubines!"

"Oh shut the fuck up." Blackstone said, looking up from his book. "Islam, a religion followed by 1/4 of the earth's population, allows for multiple wives of equal standing. Same for the Christian Church of Latter Day Saints, more commonly known as Mormons. Probably a bunch of others, but those are the first to spring to mind."

"And who are you to speak to me in such a manner?" Tsukiumi angrily asked, turning to glare at Blackstone. Blackstone sighed, set aside his book, and stood up to his full height.

"Does anyone want some tea?" I asked, attempting to defuse the situation before it was proven that Blackstone just does not get along with blondes. "I think tea would be really good right now."

Blackstone ignored me, and shifted completely into dragon form, although scaled very much down so that he could fit in the room. He was still intimidating and the size of an elephant, but he wasn't unmanageable.

"I am Blackstone Anderson, the only true Dragon in the universe." Blackstone said darkly. "I can roast you alive or swallow you whole. Anger me too much, and I won't give you a choice."

"Be nice." I warned. "I do not want a repeat of Gemini."

"Ha! You think I am so easily cowed?!" Tsukiumi taunted, staring Blackstone in the face as water began to coalesce into compressed orbs around her.

"Don't do this, guys." I pleaded, shaking my head.

"As point of fact, I do." Blackstone informed her as he leaned in, his snout almost touching Tsukiumi's nose.

"Everyone sit the fuck down!" I ordered, breaking out the hannya mask. "Blackstone, Tsukiumi, sit down _right now_."

They immediately complied; Tsukiumi's water orbs dissipated, and Blackstone returned to human form, curling up in the corner and rocking back and forth. I _think_ I may have broken him. Shit.

* * *

><p>Dinner was a similar ordeal, which led to Matsu sitting off to the side, snickering at the antics and muttering something about some weird thing called a 'soap opera', which sounded like the most boring thing in the world and therefore probably doesn't mean what I think it means.<p>

"And I am telling you, as his proper wife, it is my place to sit beside him!" Tsukiumi continued.

Good fucking lord, how is this happening to me? What happened to the Shroud of Void dulling overreactions? Would Tsukiumi have been even worse without it? Or… yeah, somehow the Shroud has gone dormant. I guess, since now my soul is back to normal activity, the Shroud has been gradually leaving me, and after the exertion earlier, it's almost completely gone.

That, or the universe hates me and wants me to suffer. I'll accept both explanations.

"Musubi is a wife too!" Musubi argued, not quite understanding the argument but still invested in it. I could tell Yume was sick of this shit too, and I didn't blame her.

"David, please get your head off the table." Miya asked politely. I did not move or stir, or otherwise acknowledge her request. Hell, I wasn't even breathing. When you control air and your own biology, playing dead is a lot easier.

And when you're used to either quiet peace or loud violence with nothing in between like I am, playing dead is the best way to avoid overreacting and maiming someone.

"Is he asleep?" Matsu asked, looking mildly concerned. Homura leaned in and poked me, which I responded to with setting myself on fire. Again, without moving.

"Dad, c'mon." Blackstone said, rolling his eyes. "You can't just play dead whenever there's a problem you can't solve with violence or math."

"Shut up, yes I can." I said, still not breathing or moving. My heart had even stopped, and my control over fluids has been keeping the blood circulating. "I can do whatever I want, because I am a magician, and the laws of physics do not control me."

"David, please get off the table." Miya requested. "And put out that fire on your back. It's starting to smell odd."

"It shouldn't." I said, quirking an eyebrow. "My clothes are all chemically inert, and thus completely fireproof. They also don't have a smell."

"Part of your hair is on fire." Homura pointed out, causing me to frantically extinguish the flame.

"Okay, okay, I'm alive, I'm not on fire anymore." I said, sitting up. "As to whatever argument Tsukiumi and Musubi were having, I suggest it be resolved with either a round of rock paper scissors, or a coin flip. I actually don't care very much."

"So be it!" Tsukiumi said, pulling a coin out of a tiny pocket on her dress. "Musubi! Heads or tails?"

"Heads!" Musubi called. As soon as the coin was in the air, I knew it would come up heads. In order to maybe make Tsukiumi feel less alienated, I did something mildly sneaky and subtle: I used air currents to spin the coin a little faster, and come up tails instead. "Aww, Musubi lost…"

"Ha!" Tsukiumi declared, picking her coin up and putting it back in her pocket. "Victory goes to the worthy!"

"Dad, what the hell." Blackstone hissed, at a volume so low only I'd be able to hear it, and in a language only I'd be able to understand.

"Tell you later." I hissed back, not moving my lips. "Much later."

* * *

><p>Dinner passed easily enough. The conversation was mostly Homura interrupting anyone before they could use his real name, and we all got the message quickly enough thanks to whatever psychic magics held the Sekirei to the Ashikabi. Tsukiumi still remained unwinged, and was currently working up the nerve to ask about that.<p>

"If you're going to join us, there's something you should know." I told her, pulling her aside afterwards for a private conversation. "I barely know you, and you look like my sister. I'll probably take a while to warm up to you. Knowing this, do you still want to join us?"

Tsukiumi bit her lower lip, and looked away, considering this. Were I a different man, I'd say she looked cute in this moment. But, because I am who I am, I still couldn't quite get over the resemblance to my sister.

Seriously, stop looking like my sister. It's creepy and unsettling, and I'm probably going to have some sort of nightmare tonight.

Tsukiumi eventually came to a decision, and nodded her head, before closing her eyes and tilting her head upwards.

I hesitated, but managed to scourge the thought of my sister from my mind as I leaned down to kiss her. Her lips were remarkably soft, and managed to both 1) taste like seawater, and 2) make that not be a bad thing. I observed the wings of pale blue light that emerged from her back to continue avoiding a certain thought.

The wings themselves were textured in a rippling manner, much like actual water in a bay or lake. I guess, with Tsukiumi's name being what it is(Moon Sea), and her powers being water-based, it all makes sense. Heh. I remember about four or so years ago, I had a weird thing with ships, and read a lot of books about maritime practices and the like. It was the reason I wore a sailor's pea coat up until a year and a half ago.

I broke the kiss rather quickly, and Tsukiumi was a blushing mess, looking everywhere but at me.

"Now and forever." Tsukiumi said softly. For her sake, I hoped she was right.

* * *

><p>I've had a long day, a rough week, and I was kinda stressed. Because of that, I was sleeping alone tonight. See, when I'm asleep, I'm at my most vulnerable, and I get really anxious, and end up not sleeping nearly as much as I need to, now that I can sleep.<p>

So, with the room in total darkness and devoid of others, I laid down on the futon in the middle of the room, and started to sleep.

* * *

><p><em>Author's notes!<em>

_Yep, now Tsukiumi's in here. David's kinda uncomfortable around her, probably because Tsukiumi reminds him so much of his dead sister, Artemis. Remember that? That's still a thing that happened, like, two or three weeks ago._

_Things have been moving fast. David's kinda overwhelmed, not paying as much attention to things… you think the lack of detail and fast pacing are just poor writing? Hell no. It's a literary device, you shits._

_Also: It's a common thing for Uzume to laugh at the group's antics right alongside Matsu. But Uzume wasn't doing that, here. Can you guess why she wasn't?_


	9. The Red Wind, Part 2

Last night I had, for the first time in about two weeks, gone to sleep alone. It took me a moment to remember that, because I certainly didn't wake up alone, and I didn't know who was asleep with me.

Naturally, I screamed loud enough to wake the dead, and rapidly crawled backwards, before stumbling to my feet and backing up against the veranda. Overreaction? Maybe. But I am far too accustomed to people I don't know wanting to kill me for unknown reasons, so a little paranoia is justified.

The pair of bodies on the futon begin to groan and mumble as they awake, complaining about noise and hangovers. I recognized one of them as Uzume, but who was the other? Obviously a Sekirei, her figure was more ridiculous than Musubi's, but that does not give me a name.

And I noticed that, as I had my minor panic attack, I dislodged something draped loosely from the hanging light. That something fell from the light, wafted down, and landed on my shoulder. It was, of course, a pair of panties, because the universe hates me and wants me to suffer.

Furthering this hypothesis was the timely enterance of Miya, who took one look at me before breaking out into helpless giggling.

* * *

><p>Everyone was dressed. Everyone was awake. Few people were alert, those people being me, Blackstone, and Akitsu. Miya was probably still stoned, since I could faintly smell peppermint from her.<p>

"So, first order of business, why the hell were you two asleep in my room?" I asked, standing on the opposite side of the table from Uzume and her friend. Her friend had most of her hair tied up, and was wearing some weird sort of dress that couldn't have included more than 1.5 square meters of fabric, most of which was weird, voluminous sleeves, like the ones on Matsu's dress. The rest of the dress was open in the front, held in place by crossed strips of fabric, as though an amateurish tailor had split it open to accommodate an ample bust, and then tried to sew it back together very poorly.

Both of them were drinking from cans of soda that Blackstone claimed would help with the hangovers. Uzume laughed sheepishly, and scratched the back of her head.

"Well, ya see-" Uzume began.

"I don't, but continue." I joked.

"-we were drunk, and thought it was my room." Uzume continued. "And, uh, well, when we went in, we didn't see you, because your room is really dark. So we got undressed, and went to sleep."

"That does not explain why you were both pressing yourselves against me." I inquired.

"Well, we, uh, might've gotten a little cuddly in our sleep." Uzume admitted sheepishly.

"Why were you screaming?" Uzume's unnamed friend asked.

"Because I'm paranoid, and people I don't know have tried to kill me for no apparent reason many, many times before in my life." I said flatly. "You were in my room while I was sleeping, a time when I'm at my most vulnerable. My reaction was quite reasonable and predictable in those circumstances."

"Three or so years ago, he would've had a much more violent reaction." Blackstone added, taking a sip from his mug of coffee. Contrary to the obvious joke, he actually prefers his coffee with some milk and three teaspoons of sugar. "Since then, he mellowed out, what with suddenly having to figure out how to raise me."

Tsukiumi and Uzume's friend looked back and forth between me and Blackstone, scratched their heads in confusion, and then looked back at me.

"How is he your son?" the unnamed friend asked, tilting her head.

"He's adopted." I said easily. "He's also not actually human, just like me."

"Well, not just like you." Blackstone demurred. "With no bodily modification or brain surgery, a human can become something like you. Not me, though."

"By the way, I never did get your name." I said, looking at the unnamed visitor. "I'm David."

"Kazehana." three different voices said at once. Matsu, Miya, and the newly-named Kazehana herself.

"How do you two know her?" I asked, looking over at Matsu, who was seated next to Miya.

"We used to be part of the S-Guard, which protected the Sekirei still in stasis from the invading armies." Matsu answered, as compelled to do so by our still-standing contract, which I very much appreciate.

Huh. Well, suddenly I'm a lot more afraid. Someone who fought _armies_ and _won_ was in my room while I was sleeping. Which, y'know, is more than slightly terrifying.

"So, who here is yours?" Kazehana asked, looking around.

"Nobody." I said simply. "If you meant 'who here have I winged', then the answer is different. Everyone except the little one, Uzume who is already taken, Blackstone who isn't a Sekirei, and Miya, who is a widow who's shown absolutely no interest." Not entirely true… Miya, while stoned and not in full control of her faculties, is staring at me. "Well, she's shown no interest while sober. She seems to currently be a little high."

"So that's why I smell peppermint…" Kazehana muttered. "It's very faint, but I can smell it."

"Good nose." Blackstone commented. "Most of us can't smell it. I can, Dad can, but nobody else can."

"I guess being blind makes your other senses step up to compensate." Kazehana murmured.

"Oh, I'm not actually blind." I cheerily told her. "Well, I am legally blind, but I have this here enchanted blindfold that lets me see properly. It has the added benefit of hiding the sheer terror in my eyes."

"Enchanted? What do you mean by that?" Kazehana asked, taking a sip of the soda in front of her.

"Well, I'm a magician. I do magic." I said, shrugging. "Observe." I then set my entire body below the neck on fire. This had the benefit of removing the stubble that had accumulated on my legs and arms since the last time I did this. "Of course, there's more to magic than just setting yourself on fire."

"For god's sake, Dad, there are other ways to prove you're a magician, ways that don't involve setting yourself on fire." Blackstone complained. "Maybe pull a rabbit out of a hat, or something."

"What, like this?" I asked as I pulled a giant stuffed rabbit out of my pocket. "I mean, it's a pocket, not a hat, but the principle is the same, right?"

"Bro, it's way too early in the morning for you to be breaking the laws of physics." Uzume said, sighing. "Put the bunny back in the box."

"It came out of a pocket, Uzume." I said, before noting her shaking head. "Oh. That's a reference, isn't it. You know I don't get references, Uzume. Not unless they're literary references."

"So I take it life's always this interesting around here?" Kazehana asked, holding her half-full can to the side of her hand, hoping to impart a bit of the cold to her growing headache.

"Actually, this is fairly tame for us." Blackstone admitted. "Usually Miya's in on this, but she's… well, she's stoned. And trying to see through Dad's jacket."

"Shh… I've almost got it." Miya said, still staring at me. "I need paper. And a pencil."

I sighed, pulled out a blank sketchbook(I'd tried to start drawing more often, but realized that it just didn't hold my interest), and passed it over to Miya along with a mechanical pencil. She instantly flipped it open, and began to draw something.

* * *

><p>While everyone else was still talking, and Miya was still drawing, I realized that Miya would be unable to cook breakfast this morning. And that meant I'd have to do it.<p>

Now, usually at the Anderson residence, breakfast is some cereal and toast. But here at the inn, it's a more formal affair, and involves actually cooked food. And I don't actually know that many breakfast foods. Which meant that I had roughly two options. Biscuits(not the british kind), or cinnamon rolls.

* * *

><p>This was it. This was my gift to the world. Cinnamon rolls made from scratch. With magic. Truly, I had hit my peak, and could only decline from here.<p>

In hindsight, I may have overestimated the morning appetite of everyone present, but on the other hand, leftover cinnamon rolls is the exact opposite of a problem. Especially now that our landlady is high, and will probably get hungry again soon. In the meantime, she's drawing… something. I'm curious, but I suppose I'll just wait until she invites me to look at it.

You never look at someone's sketchbook without permission. Ever. It's a terrible crime, and grounds for justifiable homicide.

"Mister Red! Come see!" Miya called from the living room, where she had migrated. I suppose I was Mister Red, since I was the only 'mister' in the house wearing any red, although I would've guessed my color-based name to be 'Mister White' or 'Mister Brown', with my skin/hair being white, and my jacket being brown.

Nonetheless, it seems I might be about to see just _what_ Miya was drawing.

"Look. It's done." Miya continued, turning the sketchpad around to show me her drawing. I will admit, Miya was a skilled, thorough artist. Despite the speculation she was working with in some cases, it was a very accurate(if monochromatic) depiction of the two of us spooning while half-naked, with my arms strategically placed to avoid the censors.

"Uh…" I said cautiously, not sure how to proceed from here. "You're a very skilled artist, Miya." I could admit that much, at the very least. "I'm not sure where this skill came from, actually."

"Lots of practice." Miya admitted. "Do you want to see some of my sketchbooks?" Oh christ, stop it with that hopeful look.

"Uh… maybe later." I said sheepishly. "I need to go talk to Matsu about something."

* * *

><p>Thankfully for my conscience, I did actually need to talk to the 3rd person hacker. However, she seemed to have company, and I didn't want to interrupt.<p>

"Come in, David." Matsu said through the door. I froze, having turned away, and sighed, before walking in. "Matsu was catching up with Kaze-tan."

"I was surprised to hear how young you were." Kazehana contributed, before taking a sip from her saucer. She was drinking once again, this time with a saucer and a bottle of what I can only assume is sake. "And yet, from what I hear, you don't act it."

"Once more, for old time's sake: wizard." I said with a sigh. "I age a lot faster than humans. That, and I've had a lot of experiences that took the innocence I should have."

"He doesn't mean sex." Matsu continued, shaking her head. "Much worse."

"Ah." Kazehana said, knowingly. There was an awkward silence. "What do you mean, then?"

"It's a long story, and a fairly violent one." I said with a sigh. "I'll tell you later. Any ideas how long Miya's going to remain stoned?"

"Matsu has no idea. How many did she eat?" Matsu asked.

"Uh, I dunno. But she probably ate them around… twelve hours ago? What's the half life of peppermint?" I asked.

"Two days, give or take three hours." Kazehana said. "If she's still like this after twelve hours and sleep… I think it'll last until friday night or saturday morning. Right in time for your birthday."

"Oh, yeah, that." I said, reminded of my upcoming birthday. "I kinda forgot that was a thing. I was actually kinda hoping everyone else would forget, too."

"Don't want to celebrate your birthday?" Kazehana asked.

"Hell no. Bad things always happen on my birthday." I said flatly. "I'm hoping that if we all ignore it, the universe will too, and the birthday curse doesn't take effect."

"David-tan is too superstitious." Matsu dismissed, with a wave of her hand.

"I believe in the existence of magic, and have used curses myself to great effect." I deadpanned. "Superstition isn't stupidity under my circumstances."

"Enough about all that." Kazehana said. "Let's talk about something a little more interesting: your love life!"

"Oh fuck no. I'd like to not discuss this with my girlfriend's younger sister." I objected.

"Oh? Feeling sheepish?" Kazehana teased.

"Was that a fucking pun?" I asked irritably.

"How is tha- oh. Aries." Matsu said, finally being the last person in the room to get a joke.

"The Ram." Kazehana confirmed. "Still got it."

"You're like 20. You're a few decades too young to be saying 'still got it'." I pointed out. I avoided pointing out that the creases in her face certainly didn't make her look 20. Maybe 30 or 40, but if I didn't know better, I'd peg her as middle aged. I guess her own experiences took their own toll on her.

Huh. A week or so ago, I wouldn't have noticed. I guess, with the rebirth of my soul, I'm paying more attention to things. For example, I am vaguely aware of something called a 'sekirei plan', and that it might not be a good thing.

So far? Hasn't really affected me.

"I'm proud if I remember to put on pants, most days." Kazehana murmured.

"Kaze-tan hasn't worn pants even once in her life." Matsu objected. "Except for that one time you wore a suit."

"Wait, that's a thing that happened?" I asked, suddenly interested. I don't care who you are, you look good in a suit. I personally don't wear one because I need my range of motion, but still- suits are awesome on everyone. "Are there pictures, and am I allowed to see them?"

"Ufufufu… are suits the key to David-tan's heart?" Matsu asked, giggling a bit.

"What? No, I just like the aesthetic." I denied. "I firmly believe that everyone looks good in a suit."

"Ufufufufu… Matsu-tan can arrange that. She needs to talk to Uzu-tan, first…" Matsu said, giggling.

"So, about your love life…" Kazehana said, picking up the dropped thread of conversation. Damn. I'd hoped she would forget about that. I'll have to be careful with her. "Anyone in your harem stand out?"

"I'd rather you not refer to my significant others as a 'harem', thank you very much." I said stiffly. "It's dehumanizing. Granted, there isn't a single human in this entire house, but my point still stands.

"As to who stands out, that would be everyone. I wouldn't say they're all _equal_ in my eyes, but I wouldn't bother trying to assign ranks or pick a favorite." I finished. "It's meaningless to try to compare relationships. They have to be judged on their own merits."

"Ooh, good answer." Kazehana praised. "Now, pretend Matsu isn't here. Answer the question then."

"Second verse, same as the first." I said plainly. "I'd probably leave the room, too. I'm not really comfortable enough around you to be alone in a room, especially one like Matsu's. Dark, soundproofed, and small… perfect murder scene, and I'm kinda paranoid."

"Every time David-tan leaves his home, something weird happens." Matsu mentioned. "Like yesterday, when you met Tsuki-tan while going out for groceries."

"Or before that, when I adopted Kusano." I added. "And before that, when I met Musubi, and even before that, when I met Akitsu."

"I'm surprised you ever leave the house." Kazehana said.

"Well, Miya could probably talk me into infanticide if she wanted to." I said helplessly. "You think fear's the only weapon in her arsenal? Woman's scary, yeah, but she's more than just that. Which adds to the terror."

"Ooh, I sense a crush here." Kazehana said, setting her saucer aside and rubbing her hands together in anticipation. "Ah, it's been so long since Miya has known love. Perhaps you are the one to open up her heart once more?"

"I… don't think I am." I admitted, looking down at my legs. "I'm not a lover. I'm a killer, a thief, and a parent, but I am not a lover. Given my track record, I'm probably the worst boyfriend anyone could ever have." My voice finally betrayed a bit of weakness, some of the cracks beneath my veneer of iron.

"Oh, don't be so hard on yourself, lover-boy." Kazehana assured me with a dismissive hand gesture. "It seems five people disagree with your assessment."

"I don't think you understand." I continued, looking up. "My first girlfriend, Ruby… I… I killed her, in cold blood…" I didn't have tear glands anymore, as a result of my biotinkering. The only reason I wasn't crying right now was because I was physically unable to. "I don't deserve anything but a boot to the teeth, at this point. You could stab me and I'd thank you."

There was a pause, as I tried and failed to keep myself from shaking. This is what I was afraid of. Once I had my soul back, once I was able to truly think and feel once more, I would fall apart under the strain of what I've done. I've committed more mortal sins than I have teeth. And to be frank, if anyone deserved a guilt-induced mental breakdown, it was this pale-ass blood-drinking motherfucker.

"David, you need help." Kazehana said, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder. I pulled back, and shook my head.

"I need to die, that's what I need." I insisted.

"That isn't an option." Matsu said, completely serious. I don't know why she was so concerned. I thought she was smart enough to recognize a lost cause. "You are not going to die, not if anyone in this house has any say in it at all."

"Why do you care?" I asked. "I'm worthless. Nothing. I'm so empty inside it's a wonder I haven't started floating like a balloon."

"You are not nothing!" Matsu almost yelled, grabbing me by the base of my hood and shaking me. "You are everything! You're the tinker, tailor, soldier, and sailor, all wrapped up in one! You're a polymath, an omniglot, you are EVERYTHING!"

I sighed, reached behind my head, and placed my hands on the knot of my blindfold. It released, and fell from my face, revealing my eyes in the dull lighting of Matsu's hacker cave.

I could see my reflection in Matsu's glasses. Eyes that seemed to almost glow blood red, and had bloodshot corneas. Eyes surrounded by bags from insomnia and several lacerations and scars, cursed to stay there forever. It looked like I had tried to use the underside of a lawn mower to trim my eyebrows. I was, in short, a horrifying, bloodied mess.

"Look me in the eye and tell me I'm not a monster." I deadpanned. "Know what I've done, what I am, and try to tell me that I'm still a good person at heart."

Appearances can be deceiving. Oftentimes, however, they are not.

Incidentally, did I ever mention how bright the monitors are in here? Jesus fuck, they're like spotlights, aimed directly into my eyes. I was in pain, but I of all people deserved that pain.

However, I kinda overestimated my ability to withstand pain, and now it turns out that I actually had a fairly low pain threshold, and I almost immediately passed out from the pain.

* * *

><p>I woke up with my blindfold fastened on my face once more. A quick check of my surroundings showed that my head was in Akitsu's lap, and she had one of her hands running through my hair. The two of us were on a couch, and I was a little uncomfortable with being in the living room.<p>

"Ah." Akitsu said, looking down at me. "You are awake."

"I…" I began, before pausing. "I am."

"It seems our roles are reversed." Akitsu murmured, looking away. "I was once the taciturn one with self-worth issues, and now that role falls to you."

I took that to mean 'shut up, I'm about to say something, and it may take a while', and remained quiet.

"And that means now, I am the one who must comfort you, and pull you out of your depression." Akitsu continued, looking down at me once more. "So. Tell me what troubles you."

I froze, considering what demons lurked in me. I finally worked up enough strength to speak.

"I... I'm a killer. A heartless killer." I said quietly. "Death and destruction, those are all I'm really good for. I can't create, can't heal, I can only kill, maim, and destroy."

"And why do you feel this way?" Akitsu asked. "From what I've observed, you are more than capable of the mechanics of creation."

"I'm terrible at it." I continued. "I'm no engineer. Blackstone's the one who designed and built everything, or I was copying out of a book. Destruction is what I can do freeform, without copying someone else's work."

"I sat in for a few of those design sessions." Akitsu countered, bringing up the times when Matsu and I would try to hammer out a plan to produce flying motorcycles. "You are quite competent at engineering, no mean feat if we factor in your lack of training. And as for being good at destruction, that is no surprise. The blacksmith's hammer, while made for creation, is certainly not a bad weapon."

I shook my head. "No, no, I've been a killer since before I could make… well, anything. Since I was seven, I've been a killer. It wasn't until I was 13, when my soul burnt out, that I began to create."

"Your father's rosewood pipe, and several other handcrafted wooden items of your artifice, beg to differ." Akitsu deadpanned. "I am well aware of your previous history of woodcarving. If I recall correctly, you even made a musical instrument almost entirely from scratch."

That fucking dragon. I'd call him a son of a bitch, but I'm his only parent.

"I was also told of your remarkable musical talent." Akitsu continued. "I think, perhaps, if you held an instrument in your hands once more, you might be able to lose yourself and your troubles in the music."

"Can't." I said quietly. "I fed it into the foundry, two years ago. Made a mythril sword out of it."

"Oh, you may not have the original instrument, but Blackstone has made another." Akitsu informed me, reaching over the arm of the couch and pulling up a cigar box guitar. It had three strings, and probably wasn't tuned. "He also made this." She reached into the valley of her cleavage, and pulled forth a small metal tube, meant to go over my finger and function as a slide. This slide, along with the guitar itself, was pressed into my hands. "Play me a song, David."

I sighed, and wiggled a bit so that when I sat up, I didn't smack face-first into Akitsu's chest. While that would have been pleasant, now was not the time or place.

This guitar was very much not in tune, and it took a moment before I got it into proper open G tuning. I slid the tube over my left pointer finger, and took a deep breath.

"I'm probably very rusty, and out of practice." I began, before I began strumming a simple song. A simple 12 bar blues rhythm. It helped clear my mind, to focus on not fumbling the rhythm, and try to recall a few actual songs I had once learned.

I slid into a real melody, a bit twangy, but with actual lyrics to it.

"_Well I'm goin' away to leave,  
>Won't be back no more.<br>Goin' back down south, child  
>Don't you wanna go?<em>"

I continued singing and playing, my eyes closed as I got more comfortable with the melody. I lost myself in the music, and when I opened my eyes again, there was the faint trace of a smile on my lips.

Oh, and _everyone_ was in the living room now, watching me with a hint of awe.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the _real_ David Alexander Anderson." Blackstone said happily. "Welcome back, Dad."

"And just what is that supposed to mean?" I asked. "What, am I defined by the instrument in my hands?"

"Nope!" Blackstone cheerily said, standing up. "You're defined by what you do with that instrument. See, deep down inside the blackened lump of flesh we charitably call your heart, there's a desire to make other people happy. Your music, your blood oath, and the fact that you raised me as your son rather than as a hypercompetent attack dog, or maybe just used me as meat and stock in a soup."

I was mildly annoyed at that, and was feeling petty, so I used the wind to blow air in his eyes.

"Ah! Stop that, it's annoying!" he protested, squeezing his eyes shut. I took note of the wisps of red that remained. Dark red, maroon, but still. Red. My soul was almost completely back. Hell, I even had my own power flowing through me. Not much, admittedly, but I'm only sixteen. I have a long way to go to becoming a powerhouse on my own, like-

Okay, no. Do not dwell on the old man.

"What is that?" Kazehana asked, looking at the wisps with curiosity.

"The most basic magic I know. Wind manipulation." I replied simply. "Since I'm a Red Wind, the winds I create are literally red. I mean, I didn't pick the title 'of the Red Wind' out of a hat."

"Wind control? Heh. That's my power, you know." Kazehana said, idly toying with her hair. "In fact, I- ah, ah-" She sneezed, and sneezed violently. I found myself flung back by the magically enhanced airflow, and managed to hit a wooden support column in the wall behind me, which managed to crack my left shoulderblade. I slid down, coming to a slumped rest behind the couch. "Oh shit. I think I overshot that. Are you okay?!"

"Everything hurts…" I quietly moaned. Just… fuck my life. Fuck everything, fuck the world, and fuck whatever forces conspire to keep me in a constant, low-level pain. "If you do that again, I will grind up your legs and make you eat them."

"Ouch. Harsh." Uzume commented. "I thought you were trying to get away from all the murder?"

"Force of habit, mostly. This is actually an improvement." Blackstone admitted. "A month ago, he probably would've just stood back up, used his good arm to shoot her, and then spend the next five minutes burning the body until the bones were gone."

"You cracked my left shoulderblade." I informed Kazehana. "It'll take me an hour to get it set right, then it'll be sore for days."

"Oh my- wait. Those numbers are off." Matsu said shrewdly. "Is this more magic bullshit?"

"Yep. More magic bullshit." I confirmed. "If I ever say or do something contradictory to reality, assume magic is involved."

"Is it healing magic?" Uzume asked. "If so, can we see it in action?"

"I am not taking off my shirt, Uzume!" I loudly protested, finally mustering the strength to stand up. My left arm was mostly useless, with the bone that all the shoulder muscles connected to being nearly broken in half. "Seriously, what is it with you people and trying to see what's underneath these clothes? Do you not understand boundaries?"

"We understand." Matsu chirped. "We just don't care."

Lovely. I focused once more on my arm, and focused intently on it. I sucked at healing magic, but this was straightforward. Soon enough, the bone was being knit back together by osteoclasts, and it was returning once more to full functionality. All the while, the telltale red tinge of my magic hovered around my shoulder.

"Mister Red, get out from behind the couch." Miya ordered, still in her drug-induced stupor. "You aren't supposed to be back there."

"Well, I'm hardly the one who's responsible for this, now am I?" I countered, nonetheless climbing back over the back of the couch. "Blame the- wait, are these cherry petals?" Pardon the non-sequitur. There seemed to be pinkish petals on the couch, where I had been sitting. Close examination revealed them to be from a cherry tree. "The hell?"

"Ah, well, if we go by your naming conventions," Kazehana began, before pausing. "I'd be 'Kazehana of the Flower Wind.' Gods, that was possibly the dumbest thing I've said out loud. I need more booze…"

"No! No drinking!" Miya decreed, her voice almost childlike.

A note to those confused: Kazehana literally translates to 'Wind Flower' in Japanese. That means 'Kazehana of the Flower Wind' is roughly as redundant as 'The Los Angeles Angels', or 'The La Brea Tar Pits', or 'The Sahara Desert', or 'The Rio Grande River'. Wow, people suck at naming things. Is naming things some sort of superpower that only I have? Seriously, it shouldn't be this hard.

"Huh. Wonder what causes this." I muttered.

"There are seventeen doctoral theses written on it, if you want to read them." Blackstone chimed in.

I blinked a few times, before Matsu interrupted with the obvious question.

"Written by who?"

"Uh…" Blackstone looked panicked, and froze, before reaching into his pocket, and throwing a handful of powder at Matsu. "Pocket sand!" He then took off in the direction of the basement, and we heard a loud crack, like air filling a vacuum. He must've mastered teleportation, and found a bolthole to hide in until the heat blew over.

"Goddamnit." Matsu cursed, looking down at her chest. Blackstone, quite frankly, had terrible aim. Instead of going for her face, the sand mostly hit her in the lower neck and upper sternum. "Matsu-tan is going to be picking sand out of her boobs for hours."

"I would suggest you bathe instead." Tsukiumi commented, finally saying something. "Where is the bathroom, while it is the topic at hand?" She looked at me, as though I knew.

"Hey, don't look at me, I don't bathe." I said, raising my hands defensively. "I use magic for that."

"Your powers are such bullshit." Uzume moaned. "What the hell? How did things end up like this?"

"Because I am a wizard, and that entails a lot of extended middle fingers to rational thought and the laws of physics." I answered with a shrug. "Besides, it's better to think of it as magic rather than powers. I can eventually figure out a way for you to do it."

"...Bro, just stop talking. My head hurts too much already." Uzume whined piteously.

I shrugged, and began playing once more, this time a song without lyrics.

* * *

><p><em><strong>The following few scenes are from a third person omniscient viewpoint.<strong>_

"Kochou. Report." Kakizaki said, walking into the room. It was filled with computers and an air conditioner, and also contained one Sekirei, named #22 Kochou.

"The Second Phase has begun. No Ashikabi or Sekirei are allowed out of the city." Kochou began. "It seems there are four major powers in play, aside from MBI."

"Continue." Kakizaki said, quite interested.

"There is us, the East. Higa Izumi himself has 18 Sekirei, and has many others, such as ourselves, in his employ. Then there is the South. Mikogami Hayato has the largest flock, at 21 Sekirei, and also has a Single Digit in his service. He seems to be our largest threat, although Mikogami is only fifteen years old, and likely does not understand the situation he is in.

"There is the West, controlled by Sanada Nishi, which is, in fact, his real name. He has six Sekirei, and no set residence. He appears to be nothing more than a low-life biker with no ambition or drive. And finally, is the North, held by Anderson David, an american 15 year old orphan who has been in Tokyo for maybe a month. In that time, however, he has managed to wing four Sekirei, but our agent reports that he also has a Scrap Number working for him, and that he adopted #108 without winging her. Said agent also reports that he is very dangerous, and best left alone. However, with three Single Digits on his side, not counting the Scrap Number, we cannot afford to ignore him."

"This agent… Number 10?" Kakizaki guessed.

"Yes. She apparently lives with him." Kochou said, nodding. "In a boarding house, which apparently has a, and I quote, '_demonic landlady who will grind you to sausage if you try to mess with her tenants_'."

"Interesting. Well, first order of business is to offer him housing here, in the East, where he does not have to pay rent." Kakizaki proposed. "At fifteen years of age, his price must be very low. And we have a lot of money to throw at this problem."

"Shall I send him the message?" Kochou asked.

"I will have to consult with the boss first, but prepare a draft. He is likely to say yes."

* * *

><p>"C'mon, it's not much further." Haruka insisted, pulling Kuno along by her wrist. For a Sekirei, Kuno was very unathletic, and was quite tired. She was as close to baseline human as you could get while still having a soul and magical abilities. "The Ashikabi of the North should be able to help us."<p>

Haruka wasn't lying that much. Of the four most powerful Ashikabi, the Ashikabi of the North was the most likely to be helpful. East was a two-faced bastard who'd screw you faster than a two dollar whore. South was some spoiled brat. West was… well, west. Impossible to find, and probably not very nice. North had a place of residence, and didn't have much of a reputation at all.

Still, it was worth a shot. To get out of the city and escape the plan… well, Haruka would risk almost anything for it.

* * *

><p><em><strong>We now return to your regularly scheduled albino narrator<strong>_

The doorbell rang, and I set aside my guitar to go answer it. Standing there were two young people, one male and one female. The boy was probably college age, and amusingly short. His hair was a light brown, and he wore sweatbands on his wrist. The girl was blonde, with short, messy hair. Her eyes were blue, as was her outfit. If it weren't for the soul anchored in her chest, I would've mistaken her for a normal human, with her very slim, modest figure.

"Are you- we need, to speak to… the-" the boy coughed, trying to catch his breath. I helped, with a bit of subtle magic. This time, the telltale red wisps were hidden with an illusion. "Are you the Ashikabi of the North?"

"The who?" I asked, demonstrating my razor wit and masterful eloquence.

"I think I got the right address…" the boy muttered.

"Well, yeah, I am an Ashikabi, and this is the northern part of the city." I hastily assured him. "But I didn't know 'Ashikabi of the North' was a title people called me."

"Oh thank god." he said with relief. "I, we, we need help. We need to get out of the city, but with MBI's blockade… we can't get out."

"Wait, what?" I asked, confused. "I, uh, haven't been keeping track of current events. Come inside, you can fill me in."

* * *

><p><em>Author's notes!<em>

_This chapter takes place over the course of less than an entire day. It also is probably one of the most important parts of Act 1, and will hint at what David will be like in Act 2._

_This chapter was also a total pain in the ass to write! It took me a while, lemme tell ya. But hey, now we've introduced Kazehana, who is one of my favorite characters, and not just because she's hot. She's no stranger to the idea of not wanting to dwell on one's past, and is probably the most similar to David in terms of wanting to forget trauma._


	10. Curtain Call

"Okay, so you said you wanted out of Tokyo but you couldn't leave. Explain." I said, steepling my fingers.

"It's simple." Kazehana interrupted, swirling her drink in her glass. "Now that the Sekirei Plan has reached Phase 2, no Sekirei or Ashikabi are allowed to leave the city, to keep it contained."

"And you think that just getting out of Tokyo will get you out of the Plan?" I asked, looking at the new pair. They'd introduced themselves as Haruka and Kuno.

"Well, yeah." Haruka said helplessly. "If we aren't where the fighting is, we can't get caught in the crossfire."

"Sound logic." Matsu said. "But MBI's reach encompasses the whole world. There's nowhere you can run that they won't follow."

"Fortunately for you, I'm a miracle worker." I continued. "You want out of Tokyo because you want to be safe. I can assure your safety, no doubt about that."

"Oh! Are you going to train them to be great fighters?" Musubi asked excitedly.

"That would be interesting. But we would eventually have to fight them." Tsukiumi mused.

"He obviously is offering them a safe haven until things blow over." Akitsu corrected.

"Correct." I confirmed. "That is exactly my plan. Once the landlady recovers, you can talk to her about rent. Until then, try to ignore the weird woman with the purple hair."

"What's wrong with her?" Haruka asked.

"An allergic reaction." I answered, in the half truths I took great joy in. "Messed with her head. She'll be fine by saturday, though. What day is it?"

"Thursday." several people answered.

"Come on, Mister Red, get it together." Miya complained.

"Oi, I don't need your judgement." I defended. "You're the one who deliberately sought out something you knew you were allergic to."

"He's got you there, Miya." Homura said, looking up from his book. It was some sort of greek mythology book, judging by the title.

"Mister Orange! Why have you betrayed me like this?" Miya cried.

"Really? I'm Mister Orange?" Homura said, nonplussed. "Figured I'd also be Mister Red."

"No, there's already a Mister Red, Homura." I said. "Besides, fire isn't red."

I then realized what I had just said, too late. Tsukiumi had already shot up to standing height, pointing accusingly at Homura.

"You!" she yelled, accusingly.

"Me." Homura blandly said, thoroughly nonplussed.

"All this time, and you concealed your identity from me?!" Tsukiumi shouted.

"I wore a half mask, and it covered only my mouth and nose. If that honestly was enough to fool you, I'm kinda embarrassed." Homura teased.

"That's a pathetic disguise." Blackstone loudly said from the kitchen. He'd been drafted to make dinner. "The only thing I can think of that's even worse is just a hood that barely covers your eyes."

Uzume looked a little sheepish at that, and I was a bit confused by that. But I resolved to ignore it, and focus on other things.

"At least it isn't a blindfold." Akitsu said with a giggle.

"Hey, I never claimed this thing concealed my identity." I jokingly defended. "Anyways, back to the topic at hand, rent is supposedly 50,000 yen a month, includes meals, and access to the bathing facilities. Or, alternatively, an automatic cleaning charm placed on your person that will also wash your clothes."

"Wait, what are you talking about?" Haruka asked.

Before I could answer, Uzume reached across the table and placed her hand over my mouth. "Bro's a wizard, does magic, and it's a load of unfair bullshit. Don't question it, that way lies madness." She withdrew her hand, and I looked at her, unamused.

"Was that necessary?"

"David-tan sucks at explaining things." Matsu said. "He only raises more questions."

"Well what's the fun of being a blind seer if I can't be cryptic?" I complained childishly. "It's like you're trying to take all the fun out of it."

"Jesus, is this what life is usually like around here?" Haruka asked.

"Yeah, pretty much." Homura said, turning a page in his book. "You learn to live with it."

"It certainly sounds lively." Kazehana murmured. "Now, if only Miya let me drink in peace, it would be perfect."

* * *

><p>The next morning, I managed to contain my scream by biting the inside of my cheek so hard it started to bleed.<p>

_Why the fuck was _**everyone**_ sleeping in my room?!_ Akitsu, Matsu, Musubi, Tsukiumi, even Uzume and Kazehana were in here. _Why the hell are they in here?!_ And how did I not notice this?!

A knock came on the door, waking nobody, and then the door slid open. Standing there was Blackstone, wearing a black bathrobe, and holding a steaming mug of coffee. He tried to hide his smile, but eventually it became too much.

"Blackstone, get me out of here!" I said in Vlax Romani. "I don't want to wake them, but I also don't want to be trapped under a pile of people!"

"Dad, look, right there." Blackstone said, snickering, and pointing at a point to my side.

"Oh my god." I muttered, silently cursing everything in my life that led to this. As it turned out, Miya was asleep in here, too. "Get me out, get me out!"

"Nah." Blackstone said, smirking, and walking back out. "Good luck, old man."

"Get back here you duplicitous dragon!" I said as loudly as I dared without waking up anyone. He ignored me, and I had to find my own way out of the situation.

* * *

><p>It took a lot of dislocated joints, and some weird fleshy noises, but I managed to get out of the pile without waking anyone up. Uzume waking up was completely independent of that. That is my story and I am sticking to it.<p>

"Oh. Uh, morning, bro." Uzume said softly, looking around the room. "I think maybe things got a little out of hand last night."

"Yeah, no shit." I deadpanned, standing up. "What the hell are you doing in here?"

"Hey, who said I couldn't enjoy a nice, warm pile of women?" Uzume joked. "Maybe we should swap bodies or something."

"Haha no." I said flatly. "The dysphoria would be pretty bad. It's why I haven't put Yume in full control of Musubi's body. That reminds me, I need to grow her a clone body."

"You go do that." Uzume said, before shifting in the pile. "I'm gonna stay here and cuddle."

I gave her a shaky thumbs up, and left the room.

* * *

><p>"So you were actually working on this, all this time." I said flatly.<p>

"Correct." Blackstone said with a nod.

"Blackstone, son, I don't know what your allowance is, but it isn't high enough."

"What use do I have for money when I can make anything I need?"

Blackstone and I stood in the basement. He'd hauled the object of our attention up from his burrow, which was at this point a bunker.

It was a giant cylindrical tank, made of transparent mythril. Inside was a body, bare of any hair, coverings, or any distinguishing features. It had no pigment to its skin, and thus bore an uncomfortable resemblance to me. And the medium it was suspended in was some sort of transparent, viscous gel, that was oddly luminescent.

"Of course, there's the matter of getting Yume's soul out of Musubi's body and into this one." I said, cupping my chin.

"Eh. Child's play, if the soul is willing." Blackstone dismissed. "The harder problem was repairing Musubi's soul, so it wasn't as unstable. She'll survive without Yume, now."

"Will she retain her hard light powers?" I asked.

"No she will not." Blackstone murmured quietly. "Let's not mention that just yet."

"I like to pretend I have more ethics than that." I deadpanned. "But of course, Musubi doesn't get a say in whether or not Yume gets a new body. Unless Yume decides to give her one."

Decanting the body, i.e. removing it from the gel and the tank, was a fast enough process. Blackstone had a rig in place that allowed him to telekinetically lift Yume's body out of the gel. We weren't going to put in the soul until it was out of the gel, which meant it was still in the octahedral black vessel Blackstone had built for it. It was an oddly appealing thing, to hold a soul within a black crystal.

Once the body was out of the tank and on the floor, Blackstone pressed the crystal to the sternum of the body. With my magic vision, I got to watch firsthand as Yume's soul was transplanted into a new body.

The body moved, to stand up. Its form shifted in appearance, first gaining pigment, then growing dark brown hair. The facial features closely resembled Musubi's, only… sharper. Less feminine. And now, they were androgynous. The general proportions became that way as well, striking a fine balance between feminine and masculine.

"So, you could be said to be reborn." I said, watching as Blackstone helped Yume into a simple black kimono. "And that means now is a perfect time to pick a new name."

"Hm…" Yume said, tying the obi behind her back. "I think… I am now Octavium."

"Of course." Blackstone said, looking proud of the pun. "Since you were Sekirei #8, and your soul was stuck in the body of Sekirei #88 for, how long?"

"8 years." Octavium said, nodding with a grin. "And if it isn't too much trouble, perhaps refer to me with they/them/their?"

"Of course." I acquiesced. "It isn't a problem in the slightest." Octavium, for those unaware of their latin, was the root word for 8, octo, made an adjective, octavi, eighth, and then given a second declension neuter ending, octavium. In all, it meant 'eighth' and was without gender.

All this meant that I was, in fact, right. Octavium was agender, and experienced dysphoria in their original body. Well. Maybe not agender, but certainly nonbinary. Eh. It isn't quite the salient point here.

"Anyways, let's get you some food." Blackstone said. "Your new body should be fairly hungry, coming out of the can."

* * *

><p>"Husband, who is that?" Tsukiumi asked, rubbing at her eyes and looking at Octavium, who was enjoying their first meal in eight years. Unfortunately, that meal was toast and cream cheese.<p>

"That is Octavium, a soul I owed a favor to, and Blackstone made a body for them." I answered. "Also, we are not married, and I am nobody's husband."

"Octavium used to be a Sekirei named Yume." Blackstone continued. "They sacrificed their life, planting their soul in Musubi's body so that Musubi would survive. I stabilized her soul, and now Octavium is in a body with shapeshifting capabilities. Musubi is no longer able to shoot lasers from her eyes."

Musubi was sitting next to Octavium, talking enthusiastically and without end about all the fun things Octavium could do, now that they had a body of their own. She was completely ignoring everything that wasn't her mentor and savior, and also was not entirely coherent.

"Not sure if Octavium is still technically a Sekirei." I added. "Doesn't matter that much, but I am curious."

"We need to find out." Blackstone said immediately. "For science."

"Pft. Magic and science don't mix very well, son." I said, shaking my head. "Magic is very hard to understand. It took six thousand years of standing on the shoulders of giants for me to reach this point."

"Yes, well, I'm a dragon." Blackstone replied, matter of factly. "I am capable of feats that no mere mortals are capable of."

"Oh, sure, I'll grant you that, but just remember, no matter how godlike you are, I'm your daddy." I said, affectionately punching him in the shoulder.

* * *

><p>"So, anyone mind telling me just what happened last night?" I said, after putting breakfast on the table. "I seem to recall a rule about only two people sleeping in a room at a time."<p>

"Ufufufufu…" Matsu giggled a bit, marking her as at least partially responsible for what happened. "Matsu-tan thought that since Miya-tan was high off her rocks, nobody would enforce that rule, and therefore all of us could enjoy a night with David-tan."

"Right, right, valid point." I conceded. "Except that you know how I reacted to waking up around two more people than I went to sleep with. What made you think adding 4 or 5 more people would be anything other than even more panic on my part?"

"Uh…" Matsu frowned a bit, and considered this. "Matsu kinda forgot. Matsu thinks her logic at the time might've been along the lines of 'it was strangers and we aren't strangers'."

"That wasn't the problem." I said, dodging a conversation that could wait for a while. "The problem was that I'm a little uncomfortable with being covered in sleeping people."

"Yeah, yeah, whine some more." Haruka muttered darkly, sipping his coffee. "You know how many people would kill to be in your position?"

"What, stricken by PTSD and mild social anxiety?" I asked, deliberately sounding patronizing. "Yeah, it's real fun, lemme tell ya. Being uncomfortable around large groups of people, and being very uncomfortable with anyone around you while you sleep? Best thing ever, combined with a large number of significant others."

"Dad is not usually a social person." Blackstone added. "This is actually the largest group of people he's had in the same room as himself without there being violence involved."

"Weren't you there for the Autumn Festival?" I asked, recalling a single counterpoint. "That counts for something, doesn't it?"

"One, you didn't know anyone there, and two, a warehouse does not count as a room." Blackstone counted off on his fingers. "Three, you weren't socializing, you were doing a dragon-taming performance."

"More magic bullshit?" Haruka wearily asked, looking around for Uzume. "Wait, where's, uh… ponytail-girl? What's her name?"

"Uzume." Blackstone said before anyone else, before cocking his head to the side. "She's, uh, a little busy at the moment."

I perked up my ears, and paid attention to the noises, and to my mild surprise, I was able to tell that Uzume and Kazehana were still in my room, and making out. Or having sex. Hard to tell, truth be told.

"Yeah, Uzume's pretty busy right now." I continued, covering for the sapphic clothier. "She's talking to Kazehana about something clothing related, probably, since Uzume's a tailor."

"How do you know?" Octavium asked, a question borne of genuine curiosity.

"I have excellent hearing." I said, tapping my ears.

"Runs in the family." Blackstone said, buffing his nails on his robe. "Comes with magic, actually. Most forms of it, anyways. Not the kinda magic most Sekirei have."

"Huh. Fascinating." Octavium asked, before turning back to their food.

* * *

><p>"Alright, so maybe let's try something a little less dangerous than rocket science." I said, leading Kusano outside. "That way we don't make nearly as much of a mess."<p>

Kusano didn't say anything, just nodding as she followed behind me. I was wearing a pair of mythril gloves and a wide-brimmed hat to protect myself from the sun.

"Now, since it's early spring, this is the perfect time to start working on the garden." I continued, leading Kusano to the patches of dirt that Miya charitably called a garden. She had them marked off and separated from the lawn by a competent line of bricks, inserted vertically, half-buried. This kept the grassroots from sneaking through into the garden, which was nice.

The gardens themselves, however, had no life in them. The winter probably killed them, and Miya hadn't replanted anything, if she was planning to. She might not have. It's entirely possible that she just didn't care about gardening.

"What are we gonna plant?" Kusano asked, surveying the soil.

"Today? We'll plant some spice plants, like basil and sage." I said, pulling a few seed packets from my pocket, along with a pair of small metal hand rakes. "First, we gotta loosen the soil so they can grow more easily."

My train of thought was interrupted by the thumping of rushing footsteps, and Uzume bursting out the front door in a panic.

"Bro, we got a problem. You, uh, might really wanna see this." she said, panting a bit, and holding her phone. She passed it to me, and I read the contents of the screen.

From: The Director  
>To: All Ashikabi<br>Subject: End of Round 2  
>Hello, ladies and gentlemen! Round 2 has gone very quickly, it seems, and now only two more Sekirei must be winged before Round 3 commences! These two elusive birds reside in the North, under the same roof as the Ashikabi of the North, Anderson David!<br>He seems to be dragging his feet here, because one of them, Number 108, has been with him since the incident in the Botanical Garden, and yet she remains unwinged! I don't know what he's thinking, but maybe you can ask him!

I handed Uzume's phone back to her, so I avoided crushing it with my anger, and sighed deeply, shaking a bit.

"Little one, it seems we won't be doing any gardening today. Something important just came up." I said with a weary voice.

* * *

><p>"I am going to <em>kill<em> that man." Homura glowered, reading the message again.

"Only if you get to him first." I muttered darkly. "I have eaten someone alive for less than this. That isn't an exaggeration, by the way." Abraham Cerst of the Red Wind. The old man I owe quite a lot to. I killed him and stole all his stuff, which is why I have the Bag of Holding, and a ton of random magic shit including my books. How did I kill him? Oh, easy: _I ate him alive because he tried to kill me_. Turns out a near-death experience is the only way to truly awaken a soul, and separates the Chromata from the Wizards.

"Jeeze. You're a scary motherfucker when you're angry." Uzume said, shivering a bit.

Everyone who lived here, except for Kusano and Blackstone, was in the dining room. I had just read the message out loud, and nobody reacted positively to the news.

"Bah! What threat can anyone pose at this point?" Tsukiumi dismissed. "We have on our side over half of the Single Digits, a shapeshifting dragon, and a skilled magician."

"And they have numbers and experience." Matsu countered, serious for once. "Only five of us have been in a serious fight before, and we have no practice working together in combat."

"Oh, you're counting me as one of you already?" Kazehana said with a smirk. "Got your eyes on me, David?"

"We figured you might have a vested interest in your own safety." I deadpanned. "Besides, it's painfully obvious that I can't just lock you in the basement and wait for this to blow over."

"Yeah, there's no room in there." Haruka said. "Kuno and I aren't fighting."

"I do need to get back in the habit of fighting if I'm going to last long here…" Kazehana mused.

"Buh. This whole process sickens me." I said, hanging my head. "None of you should have to worry about this. Nobody at all should have to worry about this. This goddamned battle royale, where everyone, fighter or not, is thrown into a battle just because they were born the wrong species. Once this particular little crisis is over, I am going to put the Director's head on a pike and parade it through the city."

"Baby steps, friend." Octavium said in a gentle voice. "First we need to get through this."

"Right, right." I said, covering my blindfold with one of my hands, before making a rolling gesture with the other. "Matsu, display a map of the immediate area on the table."

Matsu complied, and soon the portable terminal I'd put into an earring was projecting an illusory map of Tokyo onto the dinner table, centered around the Izumo Inn. All the places she had put cameras were marked, along with said camera's field of view.

"Right, so we have all four sides of the Inn under camera surveillance." I said, slipping into my methodical state of mind. This would be best for tactical analysis. "These buildings nearby, these houses, they're collateral damage waiting to happen. We'll need a way to evacuate the immediate area ASAP.

"While we're doing that, or afterwards if we must, I'll set drones to put up more cameras and possibly do patrols. From there, it's a matter of Matsu and Blackstone being on overwatch, and notifying whoever's alert and ready about any incoming threats.

"Since an incursion can happen at any time, we'll need to set up a shift schedule, with someone awake and alert at all times. Octavium, I'd appreciate you drafting one after the meeting is concluded."

This was actually incredibly brief and bare-bones, as far as briefings go. But it's a hell of a lot more than anyone expected of me, I can tell.

"Snap out of it, people." I barked, snapping my fingers. "Son of a mercenary, I know what I'm doing."

"Sorry, sorry, David-tan just sounded like an army sergeant for a minute there." Matsu said, snapping out of her little funk.

"Sergeant? Pfft. The planning they do is picking weapons and counting bullets." I dismissed. "It's the Lieutenants and Captains who do duty rosters and strategy."

"Wait, I'm confused." Musubi said, reminding me that she existed. "What's a mercenary?"

"A soldier who doesn't fight for a country, but for a company." Tsukiumi answered. "Mercenaries are motivated by profit rather than patriotism, and are often amoral scum."

"Yeah, that's my dad in a nutshell." I agreed. "No wonder I'm so fucked in the head."

* * *

><p>It has been said "MBI pretty much owns the city of Tokyo", and that was a problem, to be sure.<p>

But Tokyo isn't a city. It's a prefecture, composed of 23 wards which each are their own city, legally speaking. Yeah, the central ward, Chiyoda, with the MBI tower in it is 'the city of Tokyo', meaning MBI pretty much owns the place, but out here, in the north? Uh uh. We're in the Adachi ward. And that means it'll be much easier to manipulate the local government into issuing an immediate evacuation order in a 5 block radius around the Inn.

It was simple for Matsu to figure out who had the authority to do that, and trivial to find their office. From there, it was just a mad dash to pressure the poor bastard to issue the order.

I walked through the front door, going completely ignored and unnoticed by the secretary sitting at the desk. The Shroud of Void was tattered and falling apart, but I continued pumping magic into it to help maintain my cover. The Red Shroud would protect me from being remembered, but I would still be noticed.

I strode confidently into the office of the Mayor-equivalent, and he looked up at my sudden entry.

"My apologies, but I do not recall scheduling an appointment with anyone at this time." he said politely, setting his pen down. "I am rather busy at the moment. If you wish to make an appointment, I am certain my secretary will be able to help you."

"Oh, my." I said, smiling and shaking my head. "I am truly sorry, but you are about to become very busy. You see, someone has announced an attack on a house within this Ward, sometime in the next week. From the sounds of things, this attack is likely to have quite a lot of collateral damage, and I am worried about anyone living nearby getting caught in the attack.

"To best serve the public interest, I suggest you issue a one-week mandatory evacuation notice for a 5-block radius around the house in question, effective immediately." I finished with a smile and an activation of the Hannya mask. I handed him a piece of paper with the Inn's address on it, and clear instructions. "Please, sir, see to it that no unnecessary suffering is caused by this attack."

He nodded frantically, and I left.

* * *

><p>When I returned to the Inn, little automatons were running all over the place, installing cameras at strategic locations throughout the area that was due to be evacuated. I saw the map, and it seems Matsu had already marked off the map into sectors, each with a logical designation based on a grid. The center, however, was simply marked 'The Vent', and the surrounding areas were collectively marked 'The Crater'.<p>

Blackstone must've had some influence on this if there was volcano symbolism going on.

"The evacuation order has been placed, and will be set in motion within the day." I reported, walking over to the map. "Has the situation here changed?"

"Matsu doesn't see much movement yet." the hacker reported, looking over a map of Tokyo's Special Wards. "No movement from East, West, or South yet."

"The hacker has neglected to tell anyone of the geosync spy satellites in orbit." Blackstone commented. "With those, plus some mechanism we've confirmed is an individual tracking device in each Sekirei, we are able to track movements of Ashikabi and Sekirei throughout the city."

"Excellent work, and Matsu, be sure to bring up such relevant details in the planning phase in future operations." I ordered. "Is Miya sober yet?"

"No such luck." Kazehana said, shaking her head. "She won't be ready until tomorrow morning."

I sighed.

"Why is David-tan so concerned about Miya-tan?" Matsu asked, still working on syncing the cameras being installed all over.

"Okay, we can quit playing coy." I said, sighing. "I've known Miya wasn't human since the day I walked first walked through that door. She's more powerful than anyone I've ever seen, with the exception of Blackstone in full dragon form. Plus, I've seen her fight. She is our best fighter when sober, with the exception of me or Blackstone if we're given sufficient time to prepare. So, yeah, I am very concerned that she isn't yet sober and in fighting shape."

"Oh." Kazehana said soberly, with dawning realization. "I'm afraid even if she was sober, she wouldn't fight. She's officially neutral in the Sekirei Plan, due to her immense power and desire to stay out of this."

"Fuck." I muttered, frustrated at the moral dilemma. On one hand, if I somehow coerced Miya to fight, the Sekirei Plan would be dismantled much faster and more effectively. On the other hand, I do not want to force her to fight against her will, the entire reason I abhor the Sekirei Plan in the first place. Plus, I didn't really truly need her help.

"You know, it's admirable that you're going to all this trouble." Kazehana said, snapping me out of my thoughts. "Rather than simply protect your territory by just winging me and the little one, you're going through god knows what to protect our status as unwinged."

"I swore an oath, three years ago." I explained, finally sitting down at the table and looking over the shift schedule Octavium made. "The oath was to protect people, essentially. If I can see that someone's in trouble, well, I _have_ to help. I am compelled to do so by my oath. I am physically incapable of breaking it, no matter how hard I try."

"The Paladin's Oath." Blackstone said, almost out of nowhere. "That's what I call it, anyways. It's the noblest, most selfless thing you've ever done, and even without the Sekirei Plan, it would've saved thousands of people who would've died otherwise."

"What's a paladin?" Musubi asked, standing in the room but not sure what to do.

"The Paladins, also called the Twelve Peers, were the foremost warriors of Charlemagne's court." Homura began. He knew a surprising amount about western mythology and history. "Their exploits were largely fictitious, meant to illustrate Christian martial superiority. Of course, in modern times, Paladin simply refers to any noble, chivalrous warrior."

"Certainly better than the obvious title, 'White Knight'." Akitsu snarked, sitting across the table.

"Partly because I'm not a knight." I said, pulling the Equalizer from my Bag of Holding. "I don't use a sword. I use a gun or a bow, but not a sword. Plus, I swear fealty to no lord or master. A closer comparison would be to a ronin."

"David, honey, the samurai were swordsman, too." Kazehana said patronizingly.

"Nope!" I said, quite sure of myself. "First point, I barely know you, please don't call me 'honey'. Second, the samurai were actually skilled archers. Yeah, they had swords and spears, but those weren't their primary weapons. Only an idiot fights at arm's length if they can use range to their advantage. Really, it was only when they were rendered obsolete did the idea that they were honorable swordsmen to the last come about. It's basically a bunch of people trying to make themselves seem cooler so people would still respect and fear them."

"Pft. Nerds." Uzume said, walking towards the door. "I'm out."

"Where are you going?" I asked, quite curious. "And what would it cost to make you stay?"

"Sorry, bro, but I gotta run an errand." Uzume lied. She turned to the door, and found it to be locked. "Really, bro? You're gonna be like this?"

"And you're going to try lying to the seer?" I retorted. "You know, I actually have a very strong sense of smell. And you'd be surprised at what you can tell from that. I can literally smell your fear. So, Uzume, I think it's time you tell us who you work for."

Uzume turned to face me, glaring as she settled into a fighter's stance while what appeared to be white veils came from seemingly nowhere to encircle her and act like extra limbs.

I settled for aiming the Equalizer at her center of mass. She said her veils could get harder than steel. My bullets could pierce most hardened mythrils, and this thing didn't just shoot bullets.

"Uzume, as part of our contract, I am ordering you to tell me who you work for." I said, voice low. "Should you break our contract, you will find yourself at the wrong end of a wizard's enchanted handgun."

Uzume continued glaring for a few moments, before she slumped forward, and fell to her knees, feeling defeated.

"Higa. Higa Izumi, Ashikabi of the East." Uzume said, almost lifelessly. "My ashikabi, Hidaka Chiho, she's… she's terminally ill, and he's got the only hospital around that can treat her. If I don't do what he says, he'll kill her."

I sighed, lowered the Equalizer, and palmed my face with my free hand.

"Why," I said quietly. "does nobody _tell me_ about these sorts of things? I would've fixed this the day I arrived, had I known."

"Huh?" almost everyone said as one.

"_I can heal! Healing is one of my first and foremost magical abilities!_" I all but shouted. "_I can regrow limbs! Cure the plague! There is no injury or illness short of death that I cannot remedy!_"

"Wait- you, you can cure her?" Uzume said, looking up, with a manic, desperate look in her eyes. "You can do this, bro?"

"I can and I will." I said with a nod, holstering the Equalizer in the Bag of Holding. "Because you're my friend, and I want my friends to be happy."

"Wow, bro- I, I don't know h-how to thank you for this." Uzume said, tears in her eyes.

"You can stop sleeping in my room, for one." I deadpanned. "If you're lonely, cuddle a pillow or something."

"Oh my god, bro, you're such an asshole." Uzume said, laughing.

* * *

><p>I appointed Blackstone Lieutenant, and left everyone in his more-than-capable hands. I didn't need much help on this one; it was just going to a hospital in broad daylight, doing magic at a sickly girl, and then running back to the inn with her in tow. Really, the only reasons Uzume was coming with me was because 1) she knows where Chiho is, and 2) she would kill me if I suggested she stay while I go get her.<p>

Now. Two people, doing what is essentially a smash-and-grab with no regard for stealth. That meant taking the Icecube Mark 2. This one was new and improved, with the ability to hover, and a variable hatch. This meant we could dock to windows temporarily, and Uzume could just jump out, grab Chiho, bring her back inside, and then I'd heal her while the autopilot brought us back to the inn.

In fact, if Lady Luck had smiled upon us, that would've been all, and I would end this scene right here. However, when Uzume slipped through the window, someone was already in the room, necessitating my debarking as well.

"Kochou." Uzume said coldly, facing the visitor. She was a Sekirei, I could tell that much from my magic sense. From her body language, the way she carried herself… she wasn't a fighter. Perfect.

"Number 10." Kochou replied in kind. "It seems you have finally shown your true colors."

"Shut up." I ordered, drawing the Equalizer and using the Hannya mask. "Let's make a deal, Kochou. I don't shoot you, and you do exactly as I say. Nod to show you understand and accept."

Kochou nodded, and I continued. "I will give you orders, don't worry how, and you are going to follow those orders to the best of your ability. This may involve recruiting others to do so. You are not going to tell anyone about this deal, unless I say otherwise. If anyone asks what happened in here, you are going to say that Uzume and I easily overpowered you and took Chiho with us. Nod to show you understand and accept."

Kochou nodded once more, and I holstered my gun. The hannya mask dropped, and Kochou fled from the room.

"Damn, bro." Uzume said. "You scary." Thankfully for me, Chiho remained asleep. Not sure if it's the Shroud of Void, but I'm certainly glad it happened. Didn't need her thinking I was a violent sociopath… yet.

"Turnabout is fair play." I said with a shrug. "Let's get Chiho out of here."

"Was that a magically binding contract, bro?" Uzume asked, suddenly realizing something.

"You'll sleep easier if I don't tell you." I said honestly. "Now let's _go_."

* * *

><p>Curing Chiho's illness(which appeared to be an extreme autoimmune disorder) was simple. However, simple does not mean trivial. Simple just means I can sum it up in a sentence or two. Simple means I essentially copy-pasted Uzume's immune system and replaced Chiho's with that. Simple means I then spent the rest of the trip back calibrating the immune system so it wouldn't destroy Chiho's entire body from the inside out.<p>

On the plus side, Chiho isn't dying anymore, and is also immune to anything up to and including the Black Death. That's a good thing, I think.

I landed the Icecube Mk 2 on the driveway, not bothering with the hangar this time around. Uzume and I debarked, the brunette carrying her unconscious Ashikabi.

"Really, bro, this means a hell of a lot to me." Uzume said as we walked to the door.

"Hey, actually, I have a question that I'd like answered." I said, derailing the conversation. "How come you never call me by my name?"

"Uh… well, I have trouble pronouncing it." Uzume admitted sheepishly. "Japanese is, phonetically, a lot simpler than English. Your name involves a vowel and a consonant that Japanese just doesn't have, plus, ending a word with a consonant isn't something that Japanese does, except for n."

"Oh, okay then." I said, with realization. "I, uh, kinda forgot that part."

"Yeah. I'm probably gonna keep calling you that, if that's alright." Uzume said, opening the door.

"That's perfectly fine." I said, nodding my head. "Alright, we're back, anything happen?"

"You have mail." Matsu chirped, pointing at the terminal they'd dragged out of my room and down into the dining room, which was quickly becoming a command room.

From: Sahashi Yukari  
>To: Anderson David<br>Hey. You have Kusano with you. Her big brother, Shiina, wants to see her again. And if she isn't in perfect health, I'm going to put you in the hospital.

"This one is from someone named Sahashi Yukari, and apparently someone named Shiina is Kusano's older brother, and wants to see her. The rest is a threat." I said, looking over the email. "Is Shiina a real person we should allow into the Inn?" I mean, his name literally means Death.

"Ku's mentioned an older brother named Shiina, and expressed a desire to see him again." Blackstone confirmed, holding a napping Kusano in his arms. "That'd be a perfect distraction from this mess, which she kinda thinks is her fault."

"What? This isn't her fault at all." I said immediately. "It's the Director's fault for painting a target on her head, and for making the Sekirei Plan a thing in the first place. She's completely innocent here." I saw her shift a bit, and sighed. "She's awake now, isn't she?"

"Mhm…" she said sleepily. "Ku wants to see Shi-chan again…" She then went right back to sleep.

I sighed, and typed out a reply.

From: Captain Anderson  
>To: Sahashi Yukari<br>I'd love to have you and Shiina over. Drop by whenever, Kusano would be thrilled to see her big brother again. However, there is one minor stipulation: I have adopted Kusano as my daughter. Any attempts to separate her from me will be met with open hostility and possibly violence. Also, please note that I will attempt to convince you and Shiina to move into one of our open rooms, so that Kusano can have her whole family together under one roof.

I then opened up the next email in my inbox.

From: Higa Izumi  
>To: Anderson David<br>Hello, Mr. Anderson. I am Higa Izumi, the Ashikabi of the East. I wish to make a business arrangement with you. I can pay handsomely, and the services I request are not too much of a burden. Free, premium housing is a part of this contract.

"Hah, no." I said out loud, deleting the email. "No way in hell I'm working for that bastard."

"Who was it?" Matsu asked.

"Higa, the guy who was blackmailing my best friend." I said casually. "Y'know, him."

"Oh? I'm your 'best friend'?" Uzume asked, chuckling a bit. "Thanks, bro. Means a lot."

"Does this mean I have to start calling her 'Aunt Uzume'? Because I'm not exactly keen on that." Blackstone joked.

"Oh god, I don't want any part of your weird family." Uzume said, starting to crack up. "I'm fine with not having a nephew or a niece."

"Fine, then, don't join the tangled web that is the Anderson family." I said, affecting a hurt tone. "I guess you just don't get to wear the symbol of the White Rose on all of your clothing."

"Oh no, what a travesty." Uzume said sarcastically. "Please, no, I want to wear that ugly-ass flower all over every square inch of my body. Please, bro, reconsider."

"Maybe." I said with a shrug.

* * *

><p>"Lieutenant, you're Acting Captain til I wake up." I said, rubbing my eyes through my blindfold. "Work out ranks for everyone else. Octavium, you're a Lieutenant now too."<p>

"Acknowledged, sir." Blackstone said, nodding. "Erm, do I need ranks for Kazehana, Kusano, and Miya?"

"No you don't, but think about it anyways." I ordered, walking off to the stairwell. "We're using Army ranks here, by the way. Not Naval ones. I don't want sailors or midshipmen. You have your orders."

And with that, I headed up to my room to sleep for a solid 6 hours.

* * *

><p>Waking up at around dawn, I knew something was amiss when everything was quiet. Things are <em>never<em> quiet around here, and while that could be the sudden imposition of martial law, I'd bet my right asscheek that something was up.

Well, not really. How exactly would that work? If I win, what do I win? Someone else's right asscheek? What am I going to do with that?

Eh. Fuck it, I'm going downstairs. Maybe that'll- what the fuck. Everyone, and I do mean _everyone_, is wearing a well-tailored suit and sitting around the dining room table.

"Happy birthday!" everyone shouted as one. There was a pause, as nobody really said anything.

"Lieutenant Blackstone," I began calmly. "was this your doing?"

"No, sir, it was Corporal Uzume." he replied easily.

"Wrong answer." I snapped. "This happened on your watch, and therefore you are responsible."

"What's wrong?" Octavium asked.

"Celebrating my birthday is a recipe for disaster." I said, approaching the dinner table. "The last time we did it, three years ago, two innocent people died by my hand, and several dozen others were slain by my late family members. Three years before that, I killed seventeen people whose only crimes were being manipulated by a crazy old magician. And three years before _that_, I burned down a warehouse containing two dozen hicks and carnies. We are _not_ celebrating my birthday. Not now, not ever."

"Ah, lighten up. Quit being so superstitious." Kazehana said with a dismissive gesture. "Uzume went through a lot of effort for these suits."

"You can continue wearing them, but we are not celebrating anything today." I allowed. "I don't care how much work went into it. A lot of work goes into lots of terrible things that end poorly for all involved." I paused for a moment, before I continued. "Also, 'stop being superstitious'? I'm a goddamned magician. Superstition isn't idiocy, it's pattern recognition."

"Matsu-tan thinks David-tan is exaggerating a bit…" the third-person hacker demurred.

"Whatever. Do what you want. I'm going to go make breakfast." I said with a huff.

"I am already doing that." Miya announced from the kitchen. Guess she was back to normal now. "Although help would be appreciated."

* * *

><p>"What's wrong, old man?" Blackstone asked me, walking out onto the front porch. I was sitting on the edge, looking at the fence. "You seem down."<p>

"Calling me 'old man' doesn't help." I deadpanned. "It's just… I feel it in my bones. Today is not a good day. Bad things are going to happen. To me, to you, to everyone. Something bad, something big."

"This a vision, a prediction, or is it just an intuition?" Blackstone asked, sitting down next to me.

"With an oracle, those are all pretty much the same thing." I told him flatly. "I know that today will be a very bad day. I mean, I've lost the Shroud of Void completely, now. I just have the Red Shroud now."

"Okay, yeah, that alone sucks." Blackstone agreed. "But maybe it's just that you're around more people now, and thus you need to learn to be in the spotlight constantly."

"I hate the spotlight." I glowered. "I hate all light. It burns me, reminds me of this ancient curse, of the things in this world I can't control. Did I tell you? That this pasty white skin of mine, it isn't genetic? It's an old curse, from the medieval era. Some fucker with way too much power cursed my bloodline, and now every Red Wind it spawns burns in the sunlight like gunpowder, and can't see for shit."

It was true. I couldn't see the specifics; my oracular abilities weren't that strong. But I knew that my albinism was worse than normal, and it was caused by an ancient curse I have yet to break, if such a thing was possible. It'd take divine intervention, I'm pretty sure.

"And now I'm thinking of all the other things I can't control in my life, now." I said, standing up and walking into the yard, throwing my arms up to the sides, gesturing all around me. "I never wanted to come here! If I had stayed home, like I had wanted, I would never have gotten into this! I would've remained in my happy little existence, slowly mastering my reality-warping abilities! But noooo, now I have to play soldier in some old man's pretend war, living with people I don't know, who think that just because we shared one little kiss, they get my full attention!

"Fuck this shit! I'm so fucking sick of all of this bullshit, I just want to go home, lay in bed, and forget any of this ever happened!"

"Dad, calm down." Blackstone said, rushing to my side. I threw him back with a gust of wind.

"Don't fucking touch me. Don't talk to me." I growled, turning back around to face him. "If it weren't for you, I would've just left this place the day I arrived. But no, I gotta be careful with the delicate little dragon. Can't move him around too much in one day, no, that'll be bad. Go back to your little burrow, child. I'm sick of looking at you."

Blackstone had tears in his eyes, and his mouth hung open. He turned around and ran back into the house, and I began storming away. I was pissed.

I probably got to the gate before I froze, and looked down. A gleaming, magical blade, stained with my blood, stuck out of my chest, having passed through my aorta.

"This is how it ends, Dave." Karasuba whispered in my ear. "Not with a bang, but a whimper."

"It seems I am… undone." I said, gasping for breath. "Goodnight, everyone. Act 1… has ended."

* * *

><p><em>Author's notes!<em>

_Yes, David is dead. He is very much dead. He got stabbed through the heart with a magic sword that can cut through almost anything. His heart has stopped beating. That is the literal textbook definition of death._

_But. That does not mean this story is over. Just because David's dead doesn't mean there isn't a story. Even he, in his final moments, acknowledges that, while his death is the end of the immediate narrative, the world does not end with him, and there's a lot of stuff that still needs to happen. He's done. The world isn't._

_We've got three more acts ahead of us, fuckers. And this story ain't over til I say it's over. Buckle the fuck up._

_Oh, and as to how the email allows David to be both 'Anderson David' and 'Captain Anderson', it's simple. This particular email client allows you to set a nickname, that will be displayed in the sender/recipient bar instead of your actual email address. David changed his between receiving Yukari's email and sending the reply._


End file.
